Those Fleeting, Precious Days
by Sir Sleeps-a-lot
Summary: The days are still as unchanging as ever, but I did find that little sparkle to break through the tedium... The funniest thing... it was in me the whole time. Still, I'll have to keep polishing it till it gets bright enough that someone else will notice it as well...
1. Maybe I shouldn't piss off my mother

**Hi again... Who missed me?**

***crickets chirp***

**Ah well... what can you do?**

**In any case, welcome to the sequel of Those Mindnumbingly Boring Day. I know I said that this would only start in December, but the worst of my exams are over and I got bored.**

**That being said, you might recognize the title of this, and if you do, I'll give you a cookie for paying attention when you were following TWGOK, either from the manga or the anime.**

**Well, I've said enough... This basically picks off a month after Chihiro's conquest ended, and maybe a week or two before the 4 Girls Plus Idol chapters. I know... I did miss that one chapter where they started playing, but I don't think it needed any more elaboration.**

**And so, it begins again...**

* * *

I stood outside my parent's room, the paper shaking in my hands and the corridor's temperature a good five degrees hotter than normal. I pulled the front of my T-shirt, hoping some non-existent breeze would cool me down.

'_Good luck with that!'_ My father's laughing voice repeated in my head. Just yesterday, I'd showed the paper to him, but he told me to take it to my mother…

Which is why, at 8:15 pm, after mum has eaten her daily chocolate piece, and is in her best mood, I was quaking outside her room, waiting till I got the guts to go in.

After ten minutes of reaching towards the door handle then pulling back, I heard the door to my brother's room open.

"Ah, Nee-chan," he said, louder than what I would've liked, so I quickly put my finger to my lips so he'd shut up. He got the message and tiptoed to where I was.

"Don't tell me you got your report already?" He whispered.

"Please… this is way worse than any report," I lowered the paper and moved my hands, which had left wet marks on the side. I pointed at what I wanted.

"It's just a guitar…" his eyebrows furrowed. I then pointed at the price. His eyes widened.

"Wow… you could get a lot of games for that…"

"Exactly… Now I have to beg Mum to buy this for me…" he smirked.

"Good luck with that…" he patted my shoulder, "and if you don't come back, I'll take your room…"

As he was walking away, I landed a well aimed kick on his butt, causing him to stumble and lurch forward. He stuck his tongue at me anyway.

Once he was gone, and my momentary amusement disappeared, the fear started up again, and I considered trying again tomorrow, like how I'd been saying for the last three days.

It's 8:23 already, and her sugar induced happiness window will nearly be closed now…

But if I stop now, I'll never get the guts to step in… I sighed and knocked on the door.

"Come in…"

When I stepped in, with the newspaper catalogue behind me back, it seemed like Oka-san was just about ready for bed. She even had had her book open on her lap.

"Umm… Oka-san?" She glanced up over her glasses at me. I gulped and continued.

"You see… you know I've picked up learning guitar as a hobby, right?"

"Yeah… what of it?" her hazel eyes narrowed, probably because she understood where she was getting at.

"For the last month, I've been borrowing the guitar I was using from Chitose's friend, but I can't keep using it forever…"

"Alright," she sighed, "so what's behind your back?"

I pulled the catalogue out from behind me, and pointed at the guitar I liked.

"I know this looks like a lot of money, but it comes with the amp as well as some other stuff, so it actually is cheaper than usual…"

"No…" she said bluntly before turning back to her book.

"But you didn't even here what the other stuff was…"

"I don't particularly care… I've known you for sixteen years, and picking up hobbies on whim is something you do. Who's there to say you'll even want to play guitar in two weeks time?"

"But I've been playing for a month, and I'm still interested…"

"And how often do you play? Twice a week, maybe?"

"Ah…" I was going to disagree, but her estimate was closer to the truth, "I've just been a little busy, but it doesn't mean I don't want to play…"

"Look Chihiro, I understand, but spending this much for something you're not even that interested in… It's a waste… You should just find a hobby which doesn't need specialized equipment…"

"Maybe…" I stared at my bare feet.

"If you want to do baking or knitting or something, I'll buy you whatever you want, but this is a bit much…"

"I see… sorry for bothering you…" I took the catalogue with me as I left her room.

Back in my room, I sat on the edge of my bed and looked at the wooden guitar at the foot of my bed. I was pretty lucky I got to borrow this long…

I'll have to give it back tomorrow, so I guess this is over now…

I pulled the guitar over to my lap and pushed myself back till I was against the wall.

Honestly, I don't want to give this up…

We were going to be a band… me, Ayumi, Ellie and Miyako… But this can't work if I don't play something… Even if I can do vocals, my voice isn't pretty enough to justify me doing one thing…

But Oka-san has a point… I just don't play enough… to warrant buying a brand spanking new guitar.

Still… it's not as if I didn't care… I honestly was busy… you can't play without some technical knowledge… I was too busy learning how to play this thing to actually play this thing. I learned what all the strings were (every angry dog growls, barks, then eats…) then I learned how to tune a guitar, with the help of that mp3 on how the thickest string must sound… then I learned chords…

Everything I'd learned was scribbled down and stuck by my bed so I could look at it, but it only got harder.

Transferring those notes to reality was easier said than done… Trying to play the five chords I knew… the thicker strings just didn't want to stay down…

Maybe I should give up… It's not like my hands are strong enough for this, and it makes my fingers sore…

That would be for the best…

I'll tell Ayumi tomorrow…

Still… I remember when this whole music craze started… The guitar had been sitting at the corner of my room for half a week after Nee-san had returned back to Tokyo, when I just decided to try it out. The sound wasn't that pretty, so I tried to sing louder than it, yet somehow, I realized I liked that.

So I asked Ellie if she wanted to learn with me… Somehow, I did manage to convince her.

A few days later, once I had gotten a better grip on the guitar, I was going to ask Mappy-chan as well.

_We were actually sending each other emails during class… Takahashi-sensei had bored the rest of the class to a stupor, so it was fine._

'_I was thinking of starting a band… wanna join?'_

'_That'd be fun… Though what did Ayumi-san say when you asked her?'_

'_I haven't asked her… Was I supposed to?'_

'_Wow… you're super dense, aren't you?'_

'_Am I missing something?'_

'_Kinda… yeah… Even look at her now.'_

_At that point, I looked up over my phone, and as Mappy-chan had mentioned, Ayumi wasn't in a stupor. She was actually watching me out of the corner of her eyes._

_My phone vibrated again._

'_I don't know if you've noticed, but she's been hinting at you that she would be interested…'_

_I put my chin on the desk, wondering back. That would explain why she'd been humming quite a lot… and why she was talking with Miyako about playing keyboard… and she'd even shown me some music videos on Youtube…_

_My God, I've been dumb… Normally, Ayumi isn't that into music, but she was trying to show me that she could be… _

_But I've already got Ellie to upstage me… Ayumi will only be worse…_

_But that's just plain rude… to not ask her because of my own insecurities…_

_Ayumi truly does want to play… I'll ask her after class. I felt my phone vibrate again, but it was from Ayumi this time._

'_Sure, I'd love to join your band…'_

_Is she psychic? I glanced up, and she had a huge smile on her face, which made me feel guiltier that I hadn't considered asking her before… Still, at least she joined, in the end…_

In the end, it had turned out Mappy-chan had asked her in my stead, and Ayumi wasn't actually a mind reader. When I had talked to Mappy-chan later, she declined her invitation, saying that this was a perfect time to hang out, and get closer to Ayumi.

It had been one of those subconscious decisions my mind had made, but Ayumi really had a sparkling presence, which I both admired and wanted to stay away from, because it made me feel worse about myself, but it was about time I got over that.

Still, I was the one who started this band idea… it was unfortunate that I'd have to cancel it already…

Though we haven't even had any practice sessions… And Ayumi didn't have her guitar yet. It's alright if I cancel it now.

I picked my phone up from my bedside and called Ayumi.

"Hi Chihiro!"

"Ayumi… how's it going?"

"You'll never guess what I got," she moved her phone, and I could hear some strumming, "I think that was an A minor…"

"Actually, that was just an A. All your fingers are on the same fret, right?"

"Yeah… that's quite impressive you got that over the phone…"

"Actually, I downloaded an mp3 on how all the notes are supposed to sound, so it isn't impressive…"

"That's what you think, but I think you're pretty amazing, starting this band and all…"

"Aah," I rubbed my hair, "I just did it− Wait, did you get a guitar!?"

Wow… that took super long to sink in… I must be getting dumber by the day. She chuckled.

"I was waiting for you to comment on that… Papa caved and we went to buy it at Inazumart today."

"That's great…" no it's not! I can't tell her now!

"So why were you calling?" And the mind reading continues…

"Err… it was nothing, really… I just wanted to say goodnight."

"That's really sweet… I'm glad, though… you're voice sounded really low, that I thought you had some bad news…"

"I-I'm just a bit sleepy, so… There's no bad news…"

"That's good then. You caught me just as I was going to sleep, anyway… Good night!"

"Sleep tight, then…"

"I know I will… my new guitar is so cute… I can't wait to show you it…"

I closed the phone, guiltier than ever… It's not like I can even say that it's still early enough that I wouldn't be causing any trouble by quitting.

I fell, face first, into my blanket.

"What's with the sigh?" Chitose asked. When did he even get here?

"Oka-san said no… but this has gone further than just me… Saying I'll quit will cause more problems for my friends…"

"Who says you have to quit?"

"Well, you need a guitar to play guitar…"

"So… do you want to quit?"

I pulled my head out of the bed and leaned it back on the wall, being careful to not disturb the notes which were stuck there with sticky putty. That was a good question…

I mean, this stuff is pretty hard, and I still haven't gotten the hang of it…

But this brought me and Ayumi together… even though we hang out during class, we don't actually have much in common, so it would be nice to have this…

And this is fun… I guess my answer is pretty clear.

"No… I want to keep learning till I can play something…" He smirked.

"I knew it… It's a pity Oka-san is stubborn about stuff like this…" He started eying the papers behind me, so I quickly adjusted my arms to hide the worst of it from him.

"Like you'd know… Oka-san has been on board with your soccer hobby since day one…" He snorted.

"That's what you think… it still took a good week to convince her I needed soccer cleats…"

"Is that so, huh?"

The wall was bloody uncomfortable, so I grabbed my pillow so I could cushion my back. Plus, it helped with covering the papers a little more. He stopped staring there and continued speaking.

"Yeah… she said I'd get bored with it soon enough, and I should just use my sneakers… In the end, she caved when I showed her how I'd worn them down…"

"That sounded surprisingly easy…"

"That wasn't all… Sneakers also mess with your aim, so I also had to kick a ball through the window to close the deal," he looked weirdly proud of himself.

"Why are you so chuffed that you broke a window…" He sighed.

"My dear, naïve sister… When it affects our mother's pocket, she will be much more likely to fall for your cause…"

So… I have to be obnoxious if I want Oka-san to consider buying that guitar for me.

Obnoxious kind of works for me… I am pretty obnoxious by nature…

"So what do I have to do, Chitose?" His face screwed up in concentration.

"You have to convince Oka-san how much you want this…"

"But there won't be any monetary benefit for her to buy this guitar…"

The room fell to silence as both of us considered what could be possibly convince our mother that buying that guitar would be in her best interests… Then we looked at each other as the idea clicked. The same crafty smile was on both our faces.

"Oka-saaan…" I whispered as I entered her room. She still was awake. Oto-san must've been in the bathroom, because he wasn't here. I walked in.

"What is it?" then she saw I had Chitose's friend's guitar with me, "are you going to play something for me?"

A slight smile came to her face.

"Not exactly… I just want you to know how serious I am about this…." Then I lifted the guitar high above my head.

"What are you doing?" A panicked edge came to her voice, just like how I wanted.

"You like saving money, right?" The guitar was heavier than I expected, and it was shaking in my hands, "then if you agree to buy that guitar for me, I won't do anything to this guitar…"

"What are you talking about?" her voice got dangerously low and her already small eyes narrowed.

"If I broke this guitar, then you'd need to replace it… You'd still be out of money, without having gotten anything out of it…"

I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down, but obviously, my mother's signature glare didn't help in the slightest.

"Is this truly how you want to go about it?"

"I-i-if it works, then yes!"

If I was sweating before, by now, my body was as hot as the sun, and my grip around the guitar neck was slipping. I lowered it.

"You honestly don't get it, do you?" Oka-san laughed without humour.

"What's there to get? I-i-it would benefit you to just listen to-"

"Get out…" she said coldly.

"Huh?"

"I said for you to leave… I refuse to be threatened by my own children over something stupid like this…" She then climbed out of bed. I edged towards the door.

"I don't give a damn about how much it costs, but if it's just going to pick up dust in some corner, I'd rather you broke a thousand guitars than if I brought you one…"

"But…"

"And considering you'd use something you want as a hostage for your selfish game… You just cemented my point that you don't care about it enough."

The door slammed in my face, and my legs, which had slowly been losing energy throughout that conversation finally buckled, and I fell to the floor.

That… wasn't how I wanted it to go… But that was a really risky idea in the first place.

Well, you reap what you sow…

When I mustered the energy to mover, I went back to my room. Chitose was still on my bed, reading the notes I had made, but I didn't have the energy to stop him, or the energy to even care. He glanced at me.

"I'm guessing that didn't go well?"

"No shit, Sherlock…" I muttered, before faceplanting on my pillow, "go to your room…"

For once, he wasn't difficult about it. I felt him move off…

"What did she say?"

"That I didn't get it… and that I was selfish in taking that guitar hostage…"

"It kinda is like that…"

"Though I don't get it… you broke a window and there weren't any major consequences... I just threatened a guitar and all hell breaks loose."

"Maybe it was the guitar… you truly cared for it, you wouldn't put it in danger…"

Huh… he might be right about that…

"I guess that wasn't a well thought plan at all… Even still, how can I fix this now?"

"Maybe you could show her how much playing this actually means to you…"

"But how can I do that? I can't even play any songs on this yet?"

"Maybe you should do that then? I'm sure you can try some beginner song or something…"

"But I can't read tabs yet…"

"Then what's all that?" he indicated to the wall.

"That's chords and other stuff…" I half lied. While I did have some notes on tab reading, it was still too difficult to apply to real life music.

"So… you'll have to apply that stuff one day… Why not start now?"

Yeah… I pulled myself up.

I wanted this… for mine and Ayumi's sake…

I'm sure Ayumi has faced some hard stuff herself, and she got over them just fine.

"You're pretty smart for a jock…" he shrugged, "You're right, though… If Oka-san wants to see me serious, then I'll have to do a little better than that…"

"Attagirl," Chitose gave me a thumbs up, "I'll leave you to your work then. Don't stay up to late."

I barely noticed that he left, because I was too busy sorting through the papers that I'd haphazardly stuck on the wall.

Sorry, Oka-san, but I'm going to get that guitar!

* * *

**So now, the question remains... Will Chihiro convince her mother to get that guitar set? Or was the guitar breaking stunt too much.**

**Anyhoo, stay tuned... The answer will come next chapter.**


	2. Maybe I should watch my mouth

In the end, I conked out after an hour of practicing. It was still a school night, so I didn't want to go too far, but I kinda wish I could have practiced longer.

Still, Genius me forgot to set my alarm, so Oka-san was nearly out of the door when I caught her.

[Whoa! A wild OKA-SAN appears!]

[Go! CHIHIRO!]

"Wa-wa-wait…" I panted. She turned around, when sighed because it was me.

"What is it this time?" She glanced down at the huge hunk of wood I was dragging, "isn't it a bit early in the morning to be breaking guitars?"

"It is… which is why I'm not doing anything like that," I took a deep breath and pulled it into a playing stance, "I'll do what it was made for…"

I pulled the guitar strap over my shoulder and ran my fingertips over the metal strings to see if it was still in tune. It was, luckily.

Now, here goes the big plan…

[CHIHIRO used Guitar!]

"Twinkle, twinkle… little… star… How I… wonder… what you… are…" I couldn't even look up, between trying to remember what chord I needed and how my fingers were supposed to move. Not to mention the second long breaks I needed to move my fingertips.

Frankly, it sounded like crap, but I couldn't stop now. I wouldn't stop until she got how much I wanted this.

"Up… above the…world so… high…"

I could feel my face heating up and beads of sweat appearing on my forehead. This concentration was not doing me good.

"Like a…dia-" the barre I'd been attempting to hold with my forefinger slipped, and the note fell, "shit…"

[Barely effective! OKA-SAN's attack increases]

I glanced up at my mother, scared. That curse came out louder than I expected.

"Hmm… that's the first time I've ever heard that in a kid's song…"

I couldn't tell if she was amused or just humoring me till she slammed down.

"Then you haven't heard enough of those parodies," I joked, even though I was already in a pinch. Her right eyebrow arched.

"So you make it a habit to listen to that kind of music?"

[The wild OKA-SAN used No-correct-answer Question!]

A drop of sweat trickled past my eyebrows. If I said no, I was a liar, but if I said yes, I was insolent, and most likely a potty mouth. There's only one thing I can do in a situation like this.

"Look… I practiced this really hard yesterday, because I wanted to show that I'm serious about this…"

[CHIHIRO evades! It was successful!]

Oka-san looked down at her wrist watch.

"Look, I don't have the time to play. My answer still stands…"

[The wild OKA-SAN used ignore! Super effective! CHIHIRO'S attack fell!]

"Please, Oka-saaaaaan…" I started walking towards the door.

[CHIHIRO used begging! Not effective!]

She ignored me and continued walking. I could feel my throat closing up. Still somehow, my body tried following her outside, despite the fact I was barefoot and still in my pajamas.

[Whoa! A wild CHITOSE appears!]

[A wild CHITOSE has been tamed!]

[Go! CHITOSE!]

"Oka-san!"

Both of our heads narrowed on the voice, which was outside on my balcony. Now that he had our attention, he opened his arms.

[CHITOSE used Paper Rain!]

The bright sky became even lighter as the white sheets flew everywhere.

"That's all Nee-chan's music notes!"

Almost simultaneously, a sheet floated down to eye level, and I noticed that it was my writing. All the stuff which had been stuck on my wall next to my bed was now flying over the porch for everyone to see…

[CHIHIRO used Tsundere Angry Attack!]

"Who said you can go to my room!?" I screamed; my voice higher than I liked it.

"You can't say she hasn't put enough effort… She's put in plenty, and there's your proof."

A sheet waved in Oka-san's face on the way down, but I snatched it before she could read too much. Of course, subtlety is a weak point of mines.

"Why can't I see it?"

"My handwriting was a mess here…" I held the sheet to my stomach and laughed, "I didn't want to have to put you through reading that…"

Her eyebrow rose up faster than the Apollo 11.

"He's right though… I made a lot of notes about notes," I laughed at my stupid pun and indicated to the mess of paper all over the front. I figured now was a good time to start picking them all up, but the neck of the guitar kept hitting me on the back of my head.

"You kids are too stubborn…"

"Yeah…" we muttered in unison.

"I can't discredit hard work and stubbornness, can I?" I stood up, and the guitar hit me around the back of the ears because I was moving too fast.

"Consider me convinced…"

[Paper Rain was super effective!]

Sh-she… she agreed…

After the words sank in a second later, I could hear whooping from above me, and I threw the dozen papers I had collected back into the air.

[CHIHIRO used Glomp!]

"Thank you Thank you Thank you!" I threw my arms around my mother's shoulders, both grateful and relieved.

Still, because it's my mother, I could feel her trying to walk away.

"Chihiro…" she turned her head slightly, "I can't go with my daughter as a back pack…"

"I'm sure you can!" I teased. She then gave me one of those looks so I let go of my stranglehold and slid back to my feet.

[The wild OKA-SAN has been tamed!]

[CHITOSE and CHIHIRO gain 20 XP! CHITOSE is now on Level 10!]

"We did it!" I shoved my fist in the air. I heard my mother laugh as she climbed into her car.

I moved away a little and started picking up the papers, so my brain wouldn't pay much mind to the car reversing out of the car port.

"Yes we did," Chitose raised his fist as well, though with much less spirit then me, "by the way, you do remember you're still out in the street in your PJs, right?"

I was too happy to care. I didn't care about the pajamas, or the front tiles being hot or the fact that Oka-san nearly saw my notes…

In hind sight, if Chitose threw them down, he definitely saw them… That might be a problem…

I'm afraid that I might have to kill him.

"So Nee-chan…"

Ignore him… There's no way that tone will lead to anything good…

"I saw your doodles… they were cute…"

I took a deep breath and continued picking up the papers, which seem to have gone everywhere.

It seemed to be working. I'm pretty sure my face was unreadable.

"Or should I say, Chihiro Katsuragi…"

"I didn't write that!"

My head snapped up to glare at him, but he obviously didn't care about that. He was just leaning over the balcony with a bored look on his face.

"I know… I did…"

Sure enough, the paper in front of me had that written in the margin. My poker face fell at those two words.

Chihiro Katsuragi…

It's gonna take a lot more than deep breaths to keep my composure after this.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"No you won't… You wouldn't leave your two kids without an uncle…"

"Two kids?"

"Yeah… Keiichi and Chima… And you'll have a dog named Rufus… And I'll be babysitting a lot."

Yeah… I regret asking…

"L-look! They were harmless doodles, but now you've gone and blown them out of proportion!"

"I'm sure they were," he smirked, "but if you don't mind, I'm getting late… You should get ready too…"

* * *

"This is sooo awesome!"

And it was. This being Ayumi's guitar.

It was just a normal blue acoustic guitar, but she'd already gotten down to customizing it, so it had a bear face and three paw prints at the bottom of the main body. Even Miyako was itching to try it.

"And listen to this!" She held down a C and strummed with her fore finger's knuckle and thumb. The sound was so loud and clear.

"Whoa! How did you do that!? I can never get mines to sound that loud…"

She adjusted her thumb so I could see the small black piece of plastic.

"Oh, a pick," Miyako said.

"Yeah… I got it free when I brought this."

"C'mon! Let me have a go too, Ayumi!"

"Sorry Chihiro… I promised Miyako she could try it first," Miyako smiled as Ayumi passed it over.

"You brought your guitar as well… Why don't you play that while I give this a go?" Miyako said sensibly.

"Come to think of it, didn't you say you were returning it today?" I shrugged. Ayumi was right.

"Chitose forgot to take it when he left this morning…"

Eh, this guitar stuff is not good for my nails. They're getting kinda jagged.

"Chitose?" Miyako stopped strumming the wires for a second.

"Chihiro's little brother…"

"Oh, so Chisaki-senpai isn't your only sibling…"

Oh, she knows her name? I swear I haven't mentioned that…

"Oh, you've met her?" Ayumi voiced my thoughts out loud.

"Yeah…" Miyako moved her hand and tried to play something, "though do you think you can play the same notes from the keyboard on here?"

"Hmm… I could try… if you let me have a go at that…" Miyako moved the guitar away from my grabby hands.

"You can show me later… Though how do you make a D on a guitar?"

"I'll show you later," I echoed. Both Miyako and Ayumi laughed.

"So... What were you saying about Chitose again?" Ayumi brought the topic back on track.

"Chitose? Oh yeah… This guitar belongs to a friend of his… He was supposed to take it back today, so I'll have to make a detour back to Maijima East Elementary on my way home…"

"Oh, I bet that'll be nostalgic. I haven't been there in years…"

"Really? I went there… like seven weeks ago…"

"Were you visiting to see if our teachers were still around there?

"Nah, Chitose caught a stomach bug, so I had to make sure he got home in one piece."

"Sounds like a blast…" she muttered.

"The worst part was that we had to walk the route back. He must've puked in half the bins on the way home…"

Both of them cringed sympathetically.

"It was fine though… Though I think I'll take the bus today, because the walk is way too much… Do you want to come, Ayumi?"

Ayumi's face brightened but almost instantly, the look dampened.

"I would… but we have Track and Field…"

"Eh, I understand… It's always been like this."

Then Elsie came in, to diffuse the slightly tense mood. She looked uncharacteristically serious…

"What's wrong, Ellie?" Ayumi asked.

"Nothing's wrong… I'm just thinking what I should get him…"

"Him…" all three of us repeated, a bit dumbfounded. Since when does Ellie talk about boys?

"Well, it was his birthday last week and no one told me. Now I need to get something really good…" she glanced up from the ground at me, "Chihiro-san… you used to confess a lot… What's a good gift to get for a boy?"

I could feel my face turning red as everyone started looking at me.

"I-I only did that for a few weeks, and I didn't succeed, so I have no clue!"

At that point, I noticed Mappy walking to her desk.

"Sh-she has a boyfriend! You should ask her!"

"Hiroko-san has a boyfriend?" Mappy looked up at the sound of her name.

"Yeah, go ask her about it, rather…"

Luckily, homeroom started quite soon after that, so that conversation didn't really go much further.

Man… I didn't get ask who the present was even for.

I kind of dozed off during English, so, as usual, I was doodling… Two kids… The dog named Rufus… Katsuragi…

Let's just say that the paper could not get crumpled fast enough. I swear, since I got this new mechanical pencil, it has had a mind of its own.

I do doodle, but nowadays, it's become really specific. Like it is with those notes I'd been making to learn music, I've been drawing hearts and raindrops and umbrellas and for some strange reason, boats and trees.

Actually, the trees aren't that much of a surprise. It's been floating around my subconscious for nearly a month now.

It was actually a dream. A girl and a boy sheltered from a storm under a tree. Some angry words fly through the air when the girl suddenly kisses the boy before running away.

When I first saw this dream, it was a lot closer. I could hear the words and the two people were more than silhouettes.

Well, dreams are dreams… there's no point of really dwelling in that. Still, I kinda wish I knew what was up with that, because that would make a nice climax to a romantic movie… The boy chases her into the rain and confesses his feelings… Then the happily ever after begins.

Somehow, it didn't feel like it had a happy ending… Despite how it looked, I just felt a little empty thinking about it.

"Is throwing people under the bus a new thing of yours?" Mappy slapped her hand on my shoulder. She caught me on the way back to class after getting an Omelette-Soba sandwich from Demeters.

"You could say… Besides, it wasn't a secret that you and Shinji-kun are dating…"

"I guess that is true… Still, I know you did it because you wanted the attention off of you," I shrugged. She had me there.

"So… did Ellie tell you who the present was for?"

"She did…" I watched her expectantly, "though it doesn't mean I'll tell you who…"

"So it's a secret now?"

"For you it is… Consider it payback…"

Yeah… I probably deserved that…

* * *

After school, I caught the 3:30 bus to Maijima East. It was a walkable distance, but I was too lazy, and that meant I could finally read this week's Chauchau. Now that Oka-san agreed to buying the new guitar, I could stop with the studying and do something more fun.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I asked the guy next to the closest available seat. It had an overhead bag carrier as well, which was a perfect place to keep the guitar.

He just ignored me, so I took that as agreement enough.

I considered putting in headphones, but since I've started learning about music, I've been paying too much attention to the beats per minute and whether I could pick up notes (though I really can't), but I decided against it because it's impossible for me to concentrate on anything else.

Interesting… Kanon-chan is getting an album. It's coming out in two weeks, so maybe I should buy a copy of that.

Oh look… AKB48 has gone over their 48 people limit… I guess when there's so many talented singers in Japan, what can you do?

I ended up getting through a significant amount of the magazine and the horoscopes (apparently I'm going to have a fated encounter soon… Peesh!), when I noticed my stop was a few blocks off, so I put the magazine away. I've missed too many stops to make that mistake again.

Still, I got a little bored, so my eyes started wandering at the people around me. There was a stressed out mother with twin boys (no surprise there), the man with a briefcase on his phone and a little girl who was napping at her seat. By the bright pink clothes and the double pony-tail, I suspected she'd just gotten off a sugar rush.

Though speaking of nap… I think the guy next to me was doing that as well. I couldn't really tell behind his sunglasses, but his breathing sounded way to calm for him to be awake.

Actually, he's kind of cute… The back of his jet black hair was tousled from his nap and his gakuran had the top buttons opened, and his green undershirt was sticking out. He's exactly the kind of sloppy handsomeness I'd have been all over a month ago. I heard a little groan.

"I'm not asleep!" He bolted up from his previous reclining position. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a few seconds as I tried to make it seem like I hadn't been staring at him.

"Eh… not that anyone cares here anyway…" he muttered under his breath. I felt him shift slightly so he was staring out of the window on his side.

Still… what the hell was up with that? He definitely was asleep before. He sure bounced back fast. I peeked a little to the side, and he seemed pretty out of it, just like before. The only way I could tell he was still awake was his irregular finger tapping, like he was writing Morse code or something. But I'm pretty sure Morse code doesn't have circle spinning as part of that, so I had no clue what he was actually doing.

"You so were asleep," I muttered. He turned his head slightly.

"Why does that matter?"

I don't know if it was the uncertain tone or the slight reddening of his ears, but something just made me want to say more.

"Well, you were drooling and snoring…"

Oh… Did I say I wanted to talk more… Nah, I wanted to mess with him more. That ear reddening thing was really cute.

"I don't drool," he protested.

"Sure you do… It was like little rivers. I even opened the window to stick your head out so you didn't make a mess everywhere."

"Oh really!?" He sounded amused now, so I continued.

"Yeah… You can even open the windows and you'll see the trail all over the side…"

"Oh reeeaally?" he turned his body around so he was facing me.

"Yep, really… Like a dog," I turned around as well.

I don't know what it was, but when he was looking at me straight in the face, the air felt like it almost solidified with tension. He turned around to look out of the window again.

"What? You're not going to even try to refute the snoring point?" I said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"I know I don't snore…"

That's all he said for the rest of the trip. I must've gone too far with my teasing…

When I got off the bus with both the guitar and my normal bag, I saw the boy still staring out of the window with a weird look on his face. I couldn't really decipher it because of the sunglasses, but it was probably the look he had on towards the end of the bus ride, and I kind of felt bad for having invoked that.

I mouthed a sorry, even though I had no clue if he was watching. I think he might have been, because the frown only got deeper before he turned away.

Some people are just way too sensitive. I even apologized, so I wipe my conscious clean of this incident.

* * *

When I reached Maijima Elementary School, I made a beeline to the soccer pitch because, let's face it, my brother would never be anywhere else. At least once I found him, he could give the guitar back and then I could go home. Now that Oka-san had approved the guitar, I have to go choose the design I like, which may take a few hours at least.

At the pitch, it seemed like it was practice. Luckily, I didn't have to call, because Chitose came running to the field edge anyway.

"Nee-chan, what are you doing here?" I bopped him on the head.

"You tell me… You forgot the guitar at home, so I came all the way so you could give it back."

"Whoops," though his face showed no remorse at having made me travel halfway across Maijima, "Let me tell the coach then we'll go give the guitar back."

It was the weirdest thing being back here in these corridors. It's been five years since I graduated from here, so stuff has changed.

"You're lucky that today is when the piano club meets…"

"Don't clubs happen everyday?"

"Everyday? Nah… most clubs meet once a week. Soccer is a bit more intensive, so we meet three times a week…" I scoffed.

"Wait till you come to high school… Then you'll see intensive club activities…" the slightly scared look on his face as he pondered having club meets all the time made me a little happy.

"Alright, we're here…" he knocked on the door. Someone replied from inside, so he stuck his head in.

"Is Tomoko in?" Wait… that's a girl's name, right?

Whoever stepped out was definitely a girl… and a pretty girl at that. She was wearing a green knee length dress with a matching alice band and her wavy brown hair was open and went down to her shoulders. She was super cute. I was going to enjoy teasing Chitose about her later.

"Th-thanks for lending this to me," I tried to say it clearly, but I was a little tongue-tied. I pulled the bag over my head so I could hand it over.

"Sure…" she held out a hand to take the bag. Not that the guitar was really heavy in the first place, but I was surprised her hand didn't move at all with the weight.

"My mother agreed to get me a guitar so I won't need it any more."

"Though, if you don't mind me asking, what made you want to learn guitar in the first place?"

That was a kind of heavy question… I'd never really thought about it at all.

Actually, it wasn't that heavy… It maybe took me a second to think of the answer.

"It's interesting…" she smirked.

"Would you play it if it wasn't interesting?"

"Yeah… My friends are counting on me…"

"In that case, I'll warn you now," she pulled the bag over her shoulder, "there'll be times when it isn't interesting… you'll try your hardest, but it'll take forever to improve. You'll probably fail a few times as well…"

"Why are you telling me this?" She looked over her shoulder.

"Music is serious business, and if you're not strong enough to handle the downs, tell your mother to save her money and go pick up some other hobby…" I gawked. She doesn't beat around the bush at all.

"Honestly, you're reason for playing is half-assed…" I scrunched my hands into fists.

"Thanks for worrying," I said through gritted teeth, "but I'll make my reasoning work…"

"I wish you luck then… don't take this lightly," she opened the sliding door and went back inside.

"Wow… She's frank…"

"Yeah… she's always like that."

"Though why does she play piano, when she has a guitar too?"

"I have no clue… She's probably mastered the guitar already and wanted to try something else…"

We started heading back to the field when something occurred to me.

"Why did she give you the guitar in the first place? I'm pretty sure you got it before I started playing…"

He scratched his head.

"I don't know… she just told me to give it a go… She thinks you need more than one hobby to be a well rounded person."

For most of the walk, we were quiet.

"Which reminds me… You haven't tried killing me yet?"

It took me a few moments to remember what I was supposed to kill him over.

"There's no point…" I shrugged, "I do like him, so of course you'd want to mess with me…"

"I'm glad you understand," he put his hands behind his head, but some idea hit him, "Though you're going through all that effort of learning to play guitar… Maybe you could write a song for him?"

"No way… My music is for myself…" I shoved the idea instantly, "though if you want, when you and Tomoko-chan get married, I'd be happy to write a song for you guys…"

I won't lie… the disgusted look on his face might have made my day if that whole thing hadn't happened with Oka-san this morning.

"Eww… I'm ten… Why are you getting me married off already?"

"Well, I'm sixteen… I'm not supposed to get married off either."

"Fine fine… no more embarrassing graffiti on your stuff…"

"Thank you!"

* * *

**This turned out to be super long. How I've missed this...**

**I'm sorry I'm so late, but it took really long to get my head around this. Clearly, this fanfiction will be much harder to write than the original.**

**Lots of stuff happened today, and because it's me, some stuff won't make sense till later. Still, I was pleased how this chapter turned out.**

**I don't know if anyone cares, because it has little bearing within the story, but Chihiro is 16. I know the omake chapter from the manga makes her 17, but she's a second year student, so she's 16 turning 17. Most likely, I'll cover Chihiro's birthday (because I love b-days) but it'll be right at the end after canon ends.**

**Anyhoo, I hoped you liked it.**


	3. Maybe I just shouldn't listen to Mappy

At lunch, me and Mappy were trading answers for our chemistry homework… Well, not so much as trading as I was letting her copy my answers. This must make it the first time where I was the one who actually did my homework.

We couldn't go on the roof (the school put a number lock there after some kid nearly fell off a few weeks back), so we were sitting on some benches. Mappy was diligently working while I was eating a Yakisoba sandwich.

"Chiro-chan," I stopped staring at the empty Sakura trees, "what did you do here?"

I frowned… I was never fond of explaining homework.

"You take the H from there and the OH from there and bond them, so you get water and a different hydrocarbon," that seemingly worked, because she went to the next question.

For a few minutes, I just admired the plain scenery and chewed on my lunch. Recently, I have been doing a lot of that. It's weird, because I always used to be bored when I watched it before. Now, it's not so bad, watching the wind blow through the trees.

"Oi!" I got back down on to earth when she started waving her hand in my face.

"Sorry 'bout that," I laughed and glanced down at the two books, "is it another problem?"

"Nah… It was something else…" I gave her a nod so she'd continue, but I doubt she noticed, as it was like she was having a staring contest with her chemistry book, "How are things going with Katsuragi?"

Suddenly, I understood why she was hesitating.

"Eh…" I shrugged, "I haven't spoken to him in a while…"

"How long is a while, exactly?"

Lessee… Last time I remember talking was before Koromogae, which was two weeks ago…

"About three weeks…" Yeah… that was around the time I gave him that present.

Around the time I had first started thinking about this whole music business, I had already started assigning possible roles in my girl band. Miyako already played keyboard by that time, so I'd put her there. I decided to give Ellie bass guitar, because six strings may be too much for her. Both me and Ayumi would play guitar, but we were still without a drummer.

Well, Ayumi might have been able to take drums, but her specialty is a lot of power at once, so keeping that level of energy all the way through a song might kill her. In the end, playing drums takes precision, strength and keeping up a tempo. There was only one person who I thought might be able to play the drums, but he wasn't a girl…

Well, he might be able to pass of as one…

Which is why I gave him a complete girl's uniform and an invitation to join us…

In hindsight, I'm pretty sure I'm not right in the head… I'd blame my parents for dropping me on my head as a baby, except nothing like that ever happened to me… So I have no excuse…

"Oh… Because I was thinking of a good way of getting closer to him…"

Oh look, another plan? Because the last couple haven't blown up in my face enough…

"Don't give me that look!" Well, she can read my face well enough, "I swear… if it goes according to plan, you'll be the only girl he'll be thinking about…"

"Fine, let's hear it," there's no point trying to shut her up when she has an idea. It wasn't like I was a little curious myself anyway.

"You should get him a birthday present that will blow his socks away…" she moved her hands in a wooshing motion as well. I scoffed. Easier said than done…

"Guys are difficult to shop for…" I shrugged, "and I don't even know when that guy's birthday is…" she lifted her finger up at that last point.

"But I do…" she said excitedly, "all you need to do is think of what you'd want to get him…"

"When is it? And how do you even know when it is?"

"It's on the sixth of June, and Elsie told me… That's why she was asking for advice yesterday…"

That made a lot more sense compared to what I'd been thinking about. Ellie doesn't have any friends outside our class, so I doubt she'd have a boyfriend. Sixth of the sixth, huh? That's weird…

"Wait, but the sixth was last week!" That's no help if his birthday has already passed.

"I know… but think about it… Did anyone even acknowledge his birthday?"

She had a point there. No one knew about it and it was on a school day… It even took Ellie a week to find out about it, so obviously, he didn't celebrate it at home either.

"It doesn't seem so…" I yawned, "Though even still, what could I even get him?"

"A game," she lifted a finger.

"Ellie says he gets games every Thursday… I'd just get him something he already has…"

"How about one of those PFP things?"

"They're kind of expensive…"

"How about chocolate?"

"He always gets mad when Ellie makes him dessert… I think he doesn't have a sweet tooth."

"Will you stop shooting all my ideas down with that deadpan voice!?" she slammed her book on the bench next to me. I raised my hands up in apology.

"Look, I know you mean well, but I don't know him well enough to give him a present."

"If you ask me, you know him plenty well… Just in the last minute, you've mentioned two things I didn't know about him…"

"I wouldn't say I know him well," I scratched my chin, a little bit embarrassed; "I just overhear a lot in my seat while I'm reading magazines. For example, Kurahashi-san from the next seat is writing a novel…"

Mappy shrugged.

"Rei-chan… I knew that one, because she's my cleaning partner."

Silence fell on the bench.

"Come on… there has to be one thing you've overheard which may give you an idea of what he would want…"

"I know what he doesn't want, and that's a girls' school uniform…" I said without thinking. This is why my brain isn't allowed on autopilot.

"A girls' school uniform…" the idea sank into her head, "which guy would possibly want one of those?"

I made sure to not keep eye contact.

"You didn't!?"

Shit… though not keeping eye contact is just as incriminating.

"Please tell me that you did not give your crush an outfit made for girls!"

"I didn't," my voice was really small, and it only got smaller, "cross dressing boys would wear it too…"

"Gaaah!" she threw her hands up, "you're completely hopeless…"

"I can't do anything bout it now, can I!? I'll need to think of what I can get for him now…"

Gift… gift… present… why do I even have to get a present…

"Come to think of it, wouldn't it be weird if I got him a present… We're not really friends or anything…"

"I don't want to hear it from the person who gave him a girls' uniform," Mappy replied angrily. I just shrugged. The bell for chemistry class went off. We stood up, and she handed my book over.

"Nope, no present… it'll just throw him off if I'm being so nice…"

The subject was dropped for the rest of the walk.

Still, I was still pondering that whole birthday thing. Ellie herself was having trouble with getting him something and she was his sister… I was screwed if I actually wanted to get Katsuragi something…

Though every birthday needs a cake… Even if he wasn't fond of sweets, he'd have to eat cake… Though what cake?

When both me and Mappy were in our seats, and she definitely wasn't looking my way, I got Katsuragi's attention with my ruler.

"Otamega…" poke "Otamega…" and again, "C'mon, Otamega…" he turned around, glaring. What's new there?

"Do you like cake?"

"Is this your idea of small talk, because I'm not interested…" he turned back.

"Just answer the question so this conversation can end already…" I poked him again.

I really couldn't explain why I got a kick out of annoying him… I just found it impossible to have a normal conversation with him. It's probably because he's so abnormal himself that I have to respond accordingly.

"No, the frosting is too damn sweet. So is this conversation done?"

I kind of wish it wasn't, but that was all I really had to say.

"Yes, you can continue gaming like an idiot now…" he turned back, but another question came to my head, "Actually, one last thing… what did you think of the cake Miyako made for Ayumi's party?"

"I didn't try it…'

"What do you mean? You crashed into the cake, so you must have at least tasted it…" he turned back around, but his face just look puzzled.

"What do you mean? I didn't go to that party… You must have me confused with someone else."

"Of course you did… Your cake-covered face made my night," I laughed at that image. At that time, I was more curious to who pushed him there in the first place, but I was still lamenting that I hadn't taken a picture of that.

"You're either confused or forgetful, but either way, I wasn't there… As if I'd come to some real girl's party…"

Seriously… Ayumi's birthday was five weeks ago… He has to be messing with me, but no one forgets stuff that easily…

Now what did I have for lunch today?

Never mind that… no cake! I should tell Ellie as well. She should rather make… pie…

Yeah, it's savoury and you can stick a candle in it… It's a fine replacement for cake.

I should send her a recipe for that.

While class continued, I was searching for good recipes on my phone. There was this yummy looking beef pie with mashed potatoes inside, and it was relatively simple to make, so Ellie wouldn't have a problem.

Because today was Saturday, we finished after this class. As soon as we were done, I pulled Ellie out of class.

"What are you doing, Chihiro-san?"

"Mappy was telling me about your problem, so I just had an idea for you," I handed her my phone.

"Meat… pie?" she handed the phone back, "but that isn't a present, Chihiro-san…"

"I know it isn't," I looked at the picture again, "but all birthdays need a birthday cake, and your brother doesn't like sweets…"

"So… I should make this," she took the phone again, "at least I have all the ingredients here."

"Alright, then you can even make it in the home ec room here," but Ellie was digging something out of her bag, "though what is that?"

She pulled out her hand, which was tightly wrapped abound something green and squirming. The back of my neck started prickling.

"It's a Brilwig potato," she offered it to me, but I just backed away. That wasn't a potato… Potatoes weren't alive…

"Put that down, Ellie," I didn't like the look of that at all… Heck, I'd never even seen that in my life.

"Don't worry, Chihiro-san…" she rubbed the hair like roots, "he won't bite… I removed his teeth before I came here."

"No, that is not okay, Ellie! Put that back in your bag… We're going shopping,"

I begged her to throw out her weird ingredients, but she had a very strange attachment to them. I had to let her keep them, but at least her bag seemed to sooth them, because they weren't shaking anymore.

Did she buy those monstrosities from Super Tamade? I knew their food is probably past its expiration date, but moving food!? That's just crazy!

Once we had paid, Ellie got off her phone.

"Oka-sama says Kami-nii-sama is already home. Maybe we should go home and make this pie…"

I shook my head frantically… Going to Katsuragi's house… I can't handle that right now.

"I-I-I think you'd be able to handle this without me…" I held the bag out for her.

"But I've never cooked with these kinds of ingredients before. Please help me, Chihiro-saan!"

She refused to take the bag, so as it turned out, I had to go. I could only wonder how I ended up going so far with this plan, considering the beginning idea was just to give Ellie the recipe. Now I'm at Katsuragi's house… I might even meet their family…

"Oka-samaa, I'm home!" Ellie called as she entered. I just waited awkwardly, even though she'd invited me in.

"El-chan," a woman with a mixing bowl popped her head in through one of the doors, "you brought a friend as well…"

"Ye-yeah… I hope I'm not being a bother," I took off my shoes and put them neatly at the foot of the stairs, "I'm Chihiro Kosaka."

A smile appeared on her face.

"There's no bother at all… In fact, I was wondering why El-chan never brought her friends over."

"We have something important to do, Oka-sama. We're going to use the kitchen…" Ellie finally took the bag from me, now that I was in no position to run away any more.

"What are you girls making today?"

"Pie," Ellie started taking out the ingredients we had brought and put them all on the counter, "we figured Nii-sama would like that instead of cake…"

"Aah, you're friends with Keima as well," Ellie's mother turned to me. I looked away.

"N-not really… Ellie just asked for my help, so I came here to give her a hand."

"That's still sweet. Thanks for taking good care of my kids…" she started walking around the kitchen, indicating where the appliances and utensils were, before announcing that she was going out to do some chores.

As Ellie was getting the preparation work done, I was taking a look at the room. There were tables and chairs everywhere, and on the long counter we were standing behind was a stack of menus. I grabbed one

"You have a café in this place?" From the menu, which had assorted coffees, teas and pastries, that was the only conclusion I could come to.

"It's called Café Grandpa, but we're not really busy. Oka-sama make's the food there, and I waitress and clean at the end of the day…"

"That's great Ellie," I rubbed her hair admiringly. At school, Ellie can be a bit of a flake, but she actually is quite responsible, "though what does your brother do?"

"Kami-nii-sama…" she frowned, "he doesn't help with the café…"

"So he's no good, both at school and at home…"

"Well, Nii-sama does well at school, even though he doesn't like it… He used to help with the cooking before, but since I moved here, he just goes straight to his room…"

I don't know if it was my insecurities about how I really wasn't good at school, and I only did basic chores at home, but I think the Katsuragi siblings are pretty amazing… It's a far cry calling myself Otamega's friend, but at least I'm close to Ellie.

"So should we begin?"

"One second…" I tied up my aprons strings and clipped my fringe up. That wasn't my preferred hair style, but my fringe is getting long enough that when it's damp, it covers my eyes and annoys me. Now, I was ready to cook.

As soon as this is done, I'm going home. I'd rather Katsuragi didn't know of my involvement anyway. I can have lunch when I get home.

About 20 minutes in, the pie was sitting in the oven, and we were sitting on the counter, twiddling thumbs.

"Thank you so much for coming over and helping, Chihiro-san," I just shrugged.

"It's alright… I don't do much at home anyway, so at least this was a little productive…"

"Though how did you know that Nii-sama would like something like this?" I tried to look casual, but I could feel a little heat rising up my face.

"I-I figured your brother probably wouldn't want a birthday cake after that last mishap…"

"What last mishap?"

Seriously, am I the one who's remembering wrong? Both of them were at the party… I don't want to embarrass myself by bringing that up when it's something I only remember… it may have been that I had a dream about it…

"It doesn't matter… Though is this going to be a surprise?" Ellie frowned.

"Nii-sama doesn't really like surprises or birthdays… I just wanted to do something for him so that he knows I appreciate all he does for me…"

Man, Ellie really is the sweetest… And that serious face she's making now makes her look even more earnest and cute…

"Katsuragi better appreciate this, or I'm going to steal you and keep you as my sister," she laughed.

"I hope he does like this… Then you won't have to…"

A lull fell on the conversation, so I changed the subject.

"How has playing bass been going?" She pouted.

"Not well… I don't know anything other than the strings… I want to learn more, but I don't know where I can learn from."

"Come with me tomorrow… We can go to the library and get books…"

"But… I'm not really good at kanji…" Ellie's head dropped, and she started rubbing her nails.

Ugh, I'd hate to resort to this, but Ellie does have to learn. Someday soon, we're going to be in a band together, and we're going to rock it… But all that depends on whether we can play.

"We could…" I took a deep breath, "we could go see my cousin…"

"Your cousin?"

"He's the one who gave me your bass guitar… When he gave it to me, he did offer to teach me basic notes…" It's just the other stuff he offered which bugged me.

And Ellie is waaaaaay cuter than me… how is he going to treat her?

"Waaah… That would be so great!" Her eyes started sparkling… I sighed.

I better call Keita tonight so there's no weird business when she goes there.

The egg timer went off then, so we both jumped off and started watching the pie through the oven window.

"Do you think it looks done?" I asked softly. Our heads were right in front of the door, so speaking any louder would be stupid.

"I don't know," she whispered back, "I usually cook food that still moves once it's done…" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What… it stays warmer much longer…"

"Sorry Ellie," I slapped my hand on her shoulder, "I love you, but I will never eat the food that you make…"

With all those weird ingredients she uses. It's no surprise… I guess that may just be normal at where she is from… I know some people can eat fish while it's still alive, so maybe she came from a place like that…

I dunno… I'd say the pie looks golden. I don't do much cooking, but I'm pretty sure that's a good sign.

"Eh, I think it's done now…" I slipped on the oven mitts which had been on the counter and pulled the pie out.

"Elsie, is someone here? I see some extra shoes…"

The door opened, and the other Katsuragi came in, wearing a white-collared and trousers. I've never seen him out of school uniform, which is why I actually noticed.

'Ah, just making lunch, Honey…'

Even though I didn't say that out loud, it was still plenty embarrassing my brain jumped there. It was like a scene from one of those 80's films that my mum wouldn't admit to watching, but she so does.

Damn it Chihiro! We're not married!

Damn you, Katsuragi!

Damn, I've been holding it so long that it's burning my hands. I quickly put it in the stove top and flung the mitts off.

"Are you okay, Chihiro-san?"

"Yeah… I was just holding it a bit too long because someone distracted me," I glared at Katsuragi, who was sitting on a barstool by the counter, playing his PFP, "why is he even here? I thought he'd be shut up in his room…"

"It's my house, you know?" he replied, "rather, why are you here? Or are school times so short that you had to annoy me at home too?"

"I have better stuff to do with my time, you know? I was just helping Ellie with something…"

"Whatever… Have we got anything to eat, Elsie?"

"We have pie, Nii-sama…"

"If you made it, I'll pass…" I felt my hands clench. We went through a lot of effort to make this.

"She made it for your sake, Otamega!"

"And Chihiro-san helped as well…" I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Then I'm definitely not touching it… She'd poison it on purpose."

"Otamega, that's just stupid… If I wanted you dead, I'd sic Ayumi on you…" he shivered understandably. Saying Ayumi can kick hard is actually an understatement.

"You know what… I'll just take something from the fridge…"

He stood up, leaving his PFP on the counter. With every step he took, I could feel myself get angrier. Despite my plan of leaving as soon as I'd pulled this out of the oven, the fact that Otamega wasn't even going to try it just strengthened my resolve.

New plan… I'll leave when he takes a bloody bite. Ellie wanted to do something for her brother, and damn straight, she will do it. Screw Otamega!

I had the advantage though… I was closer to the fridge than him.

"Ellie, cut a piece of that pie!"

"Chihiro-saan, it's fine if Nii-sama doesn't want it."

"No it isn't! You tried your hardest on this, and it looks good. He has no reason to not try it! Now cut the damn pie!"

I think I scared Ellie enough, because in a moment, there was a filled plate in my hand.

"C'mon, Otamega… don't write it off without giving it a try…"

"I'm not risking indigestion of that thing… Do you know how much time I waste on that!?"

"I don't care… if you don't eat it, I will force feed it to you!" we glared at each other. In that time, we were right opposite each other.

"Ka-saaan!" he screamed. Good luck with that…

"She's not here to protect your picky ass… Now eat your damn pie!" At the same time, he tried ducking past me, so I grabbed to stop him.

We all know how this story ended…

For a moment, neither me nor Ellie could believe that I'd sent the plate straight into Katsuragi's face. I wanted to laugh, but I felt more bad than amused. I hadn't intended to go that far at all.

"Uh… I'm really sorry…" I couldn't tell if he was glaring at me, because the mince and potatoes was still clinging on his face, "though at least you'll know how it tastes now..."

I'm 105 percent he's glaring at me this time. My stomach just sank lower than what it already was.

"Man, you just have bad luck with food…" I rubbed the back of my head…

Escape! Escape!

"I really am sorry; I didn't mean to do it on purpose…"

"I don't believe that for a second!"

"Enough, you two!" We both looked to the side, where his mother was nearly on our shoulders.

Oh crap…

"Keima, I'm sorry this happened, but I'm sure Chihiro-chan didn't intend for that. Now you should go clean up…" from the other side, Ellie handed him a paper towel. I gulped as she turned to me.

"Thanks for coming, Chihiro-chan… I'll try to convince Keima it was an accident, but until then, I think you should go home…"

Fair enough… I had been a really rude house guest, so I did deserve that.

"El-chan, can you clean up what fell on the floor? I'll let Chihiro-chan out."

Wait, so this discussion continues?

After I had picked up my bag, she walked me out of the café entrance. Almost by the door was parked a blue motorbike, very similar to the one in my memory. I could feel my already fast heart rate go bumpy with fear, and I tried to walk as far around it as I could.

At the gate of the house, I turned and bowed as low as I could.

"I'm really sorry about what happened inside…"

"Don't worry about it," she replied in a voice really different from before, "even if it's just once, I enjoyed watching someone standing up to my son…" I hesitantly unfolded my body.

"Y-you're not mad?"

"Of course not… it was an accident. And in any case, it's not every day I get to see my stick-in-the-mud son gets food in his face."

She started laughing at the thought, but I didn't. I was still in the wrong… though I'll probably laugh about it at home.

I still wasn't assured, I was forgiven surprisingly easily, compared to what I did.

"At least you didn't send a torrent of cream around my cafe... or chased Keima around with a naginata..."

I guess that is true... I wonder why that image seemed so familiar...

"I'm glad you understand. I'll apologize to him again on Monday."

"There's no need… You've apologized twice already," I shrugged. She wasn't wrong, but I still felt bad about it.

"However, you could tell him something else…"

"Like what?" the recipe to the pie or something?

"You can explain to him why you offered to help El-chan, or why you wanted him to try your home made cooking so much…" she said pointedly. It took a moment before her implication sunk into my head, but it took even less than that for my cheeks to catch on fire.

"I-it's not like that," I shook my hands in my face, "Ellie worked really hard on this, and I wanted him to acknowledge that."

"Sure you did…" she closed the gate now that I'd left, "you still have your fringe clipped up."

I pulled the clip out and fluffed my fringe out. It probably looks like a mess now, but whatever…

I don't know if it was just me, but Katsuragi's mum just gave me a very weird look. I was afraid to ask, so I just thanked her and walked home.

On the trip home, it was like my head temperature kept jumping. I just couldn't get over the fact that Katsuragi's mother figured out I had a crush on her son before he did.

My God, am I lame!

* * *

**In the true ways of writing by the seat of your pants, I did not have a single clue this chapter was heading this way. I just wanted to add a little more of Elsie...**

**Still, there'll be more Elsie next chapter, so whoo hoo!**

**BTW, koromogae is what they call the uniform switching day in Japan. It's on the first of June for Summer Uniform and the first of October for winter uniform.**

**Also, a naginata is a long-handled sword with a nearly straight blade which Samurais used to use in the Feudal Era.**

**There's no actual relevance to that line, but I'm just fond of references.**

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed that. Please leave a review if you wanna say anything.**


	4. Maybe, I shouldn't lie

**Long time no see... Sorry for taking so long to get this update out, but it's holidays, and getting time to write is a nightmare. Still, I got to draw the cover image, so yay to that.**

**Still, this was a fun chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it as well.**

* * *

Ever made plans which blew up in your face? Apparently today is one of those days.

To elaborate, after that not-so-horrible incident at the Katsuragi household, I called my cousin to see if he was free for the next day. He refused to come to the phone, but my aunt said she'd pass the message, but to her knowledge, he would be at home.

He didn't call back, so I took that as confirmation that we could come over.

Heck, my plans even extended to include Ayumi now…

If he's backing out of this now, why didn't he call me back earlier?! I'm already at Ayumi's place, which is only three blocks from his home!

"Can I talk to Keita?" I was near pleading with my Aunt now. Still, I did it in a low enough voice that Ellie and Ayumi couldn't hear me from the living room. I was by the entrance.

"Err… he says that he doesn't want to talk to you…"

What, is he mad with me? I didn't even do anything this time!

"Look, if he's home, I'm coming with Ellie and Ayumi… I'm not taking any excuses unless he gets on the phone now…"

That worked… after some muffled voices on their side, Keita got onto the other side.

"Finally! You better take responsibility for not calling me yesterday…"

"Look, it's not a good time… Can't I take a rain check on teaching you about music?" His voice sounded weird… not like a cold… just weird and scratchy.

"If it was me, sure… But I invited my two friends… You can't back out now!"

"Why not? If they live in Maijima, they can just come another weekend…" his voice suddenly jumped an octave. He cleared his throat.

"They're busy most of the time, and I'll look like a flake if I back out now! You're at home now, so can't you help us for a little bit…"

"No! My throat isn't feeling up for it," there was a slight squeak at the end. Suddenly, something occurred to me.

"Wait, is your voice breaking?" the hitch in his throat at that was an answer enough. I grinned… boys are quite self-conscious about that.

"Oooooh, I get it… I'll explain to my two super cute friends that my cousin's ba−"

"Oi! Don't put it like that!" Aah, that sounded just like a girl… The smile on my face got even bigger, if it was possible.

"But I will… Either they come over today, or they'll never want to come over…"

"But my voice sounds like shit… I don't want to introduce myself like that…"

"Then you don't have to… I'll tell them you've lost your voice, and you can use paper to talk to them…" He paused.

"Fine… but only for an hour…"

"Alright… you're only really helping Ellie, so that's fine…"

"You owe me!"

"You're the idiot who didn't answer to the message… I owe you nothing…" he laughed (read squeaked) on the other side.

"I liked you better when you didn't try contacting me…"

"If it's any consolation, I like you more now that you've hit puberty… You've become less of a perv…"

"Which reminds me: I'll see you soon, Baby…"

"Ugh… save it when your voice doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard…" I flipped the phone shut, just as Ayumi was walking into the entrance.

"So shall we leave now?"

"Yeah, it's ten minutes away," I glanced down, and she was wearing sneakers under her knee-length shorts, "or two minutes, if you want to run…"

"Walking is just fine," she smiled, "I guess we should call Ellie."

"Yep," I walked in, where Ellie was staring at her half-drunk soda glass.

"This is really good," she commented, "what is this, Chihiro-san?"

"Have you never drunk coke before?" Ayumi added behind me. Ellie shook her head. I saw an opening there.

"Don't drink too much of that, Ellie… It'll drive you crazy…" I waved my arms spookily. Her already wide eyes started resembling saucers.

"Ca-crazy?" she looked at the fizzing glass.

"Yeah… the bubbles float to your head and slowly fizzes through your brain… If you have too much, you'll act different…" I gave a side glance at Ayumi. She just sighed… maybe at how gullible Ellie was, though probably at how mean I am.

"Ha-ha-how will I be different?"

"Nothing will be different, Ellie… She's just messing with you…" I was expecting Ayumi would put a damper to my fun, so I had a reply for that as well.

"Don't believe her, Ellie… She's had so much coke that she's been brainwashed…" I pulled Ellie off the couch, and she left her glass on the table.

"Bu-but Ayumi-san is completely normal…"

"She isn't…" I whispered, though loud enough that Ayumi could hear too, "all that coke has gone into her legs and arms… That is how she runs so fast and crashes hard enough to break a wall without hurting herself…"

"Aah… I see…" Ellie backed away from Ayumi and I considered this my victory. Well, it was my victory till Ayumi hit me upside the head with enough force for my head to lurch forward.

Gaaah! The whiplaaaash!

"That hurt, you know?"

"That's what you get for lying…" she turned around to Ellie, "it's not going to do anything to you, unlike what that idiot says…"

Still, Ellie left the rest of her soda on the table. Yay! More coke for me!

This day is turning up…

Throughout the walk, Ellie was still worried about the whole soda thing. I was just amused that she was worried about her brain melting and her limbs gaining super powers that she didn't notice how hyper she'd become.

I did her a favour by drinking the rest of her coke. Still, Ellie is so damn cute! I wish I could be like that.

When Keita opened the door, the first thing I noticed was the three inch shoot he'd made since I last saw him… Then I noticed his arms were wide open to give me a hug.

I put down his one arm and curled his other hand into a fist so I could give him a fistbump. He shrugged and took it.

Ayumi was right behind me, and she gave him a slightly more elaborate fist bump. Most likely, she'd learnt that from her brother.

Ellie, who was last in line for introductions, stared nervously at his fist.

"Just punch it… it's a form of greeting…" I heard Ayumi whisper.

She punched it… however, Ellie didn't get that it was supposed to be a soft punch so both Keita and Ellie turned away with red faces and sore knuckles.

It must've been especially bad for Keita, considering he couldn't say a word.

"Oh, right," I quickly shook my head, "Keita… Ayumi… Ellie… He's lost his voice, so bear with him…"

Keita scribbled a greeting onto the pad he'd left by the door. Even though I say scribble, his handwriting is really neat, so it was still very legible.

"You're not contagious, are you?" Ayumi asked. Makes sense, considering how bad it would be for her to get sick. Still, I smirked… the only thing which is contagious was his perviness.

Obviously, he shook his head.

"Don't let it worry you, Ayumi… it would be way worse if he was actually speaking," I laughed, remembering his sometimes rough, sometimes squeaky voice. I could feel his glare.

'Do you guys want anything to drink?' he wrote on the pad. I took off my sneakers and put them to the side.

"Nah, we just had coke at Ayumi's house," he completely ignored that and dragged me to the kitchen.

"How the hell am I going to teach anything when I can't speak?" he leaned against the fridge. Because he's gotten even taller now, trying to follow his head was a nightmare. I kept my eyes on my nails.

"Just draw the tabs or something… Besides, you're only teaching one person… Me and Ayumi just came to get tips and watch you…"

"If it's only for an hour…" he opened the kitchen door and looked out, "so I'm teaching that girl, right?"

"Yep, the one who punched you… She has your old bass guitar…" I snuck under his gorilla arms and stuck my head out the door. Ellie looked like she was crying while she rubbed her slightly red hand, while Ayumi rubbed her shoulder, "how do you feel having made a girl you've just met cry?"

"She's the one who punched me… I'm the one who should be crying…"

"Ever the manly man, huh, Keita?" I looked up… well… it was like up looking at a giraffe, so I gave up.

"Maaan, you have some really cute friends…" by this point, it seemed like Ayumi had made a joke, so Ellie looked a little bit more cheerful.

"I know, hey! When we start up the band, they'll definitely look great," I wish I could imagine it right now, but we're so far away from that image that it's like we'll never reach there.

"Though it kind of seems like you got the short end of the straw, looks wise…" I stomped on his foot, and he yelped. I whistled innocently, but it wasn't even like anyone else was in the room to have done it.

Don't get me wrong… it's not that I like Keita, but having someone who'd willingly hit on me was a huge ego booster. At least I could say someone liked me… But now he's perving on the other girls.

"Don't be like that, Chihiro… " he pointed his thumb back to them, "they're just out of my league…"

He yelped when I kicked his shin. I stalked off.

It's weird… he has no reason to like me, and I've been rejecting his advances all the time, so why does he still try?

"I've never gotten you at all… It doesn't seem like you like me like that, so why do you still act like such a weirdo?" By this point, we were back in the kitchen. He gave up watching me and opened the deep freezer.

"True, you haven't given me much of a reason… I guess… I just didn't want you to think you were an ugly bitch…"

Ugly bitch? That stung.

"His words, not mine…" he added, before digging into the freezer.

"Whose words?"

"That bastard from the hospital… I heard it through the door…" he pulled out a box, "do you think your friends would want popsicles?"

"Yeah, it is pretty hot today… wait, what hospital?"

"I'll take a couple then… I'm surprised you'd forget… he was someone who was visiting after you broke your ribs in that biking accident…"

Did that really happen? I don't remember a single thing like that…

"We should go…" he reminded me. We have been here for a good five minutes now… And considering he can't talk, we shouldn't need to take that long… Unless we were doing something else…

Yelgh! I shook my head.

I followed him out after I shut the deep freezer.

Still… my cousin isn't completely icky… puberty hit him a little late, and he's grown half a foot over the last two months. And just to think he was shorter me at the beginning of this year.

He stubbed his toe on the table out the front, and squeaked. That's the best he could do, now that he was in ear shot of the rest of the girls.

"You poor baby, you," I patted his shoulder. He glared at me, "Anyhoo, you'll get over it… let's study now…" I picked up the fallen popsicles and gave them to Ayumi and Ellie, before tearing the wrapper on the last one. In that time, Keita found his scrap paper and marker.

'We'll go work in the living room, over there,' he pointed at the door. Unlike the last couple of times I'd been there, there was no Vii attached to the TV.

Not that we're here to play games anyway… That kinda makes me sad.

After we finished our cold snacks, the lessons began.

Keita took my advice, and drew the tabs on the paper. That was for the best, because Ellie was still embarrassed about the fistbump thing, and she barely looked him in the face.

Of course, the fun began when Ellie attempted playing the tabs. Even though it was four strings, she still had difficulty organising her fingers.

"It's like this!" Keita said, apparently forgetting that he was supposed to have lost his voice. Luckily, Ellie seemed to have forgotten that fact in her own nervousness, and Ayumi right eyebrow flew up. Keita put his hand on Ellie's, which was fumbling around the neck of the instrument. Then it got even funnier.

"Waa…" she looked between their hands and his face, "wha-wha-what are you doing?"

Wooow… people can get berry coloured…

"He's just trying to show you how to hold your hands, Ellie!" Ayumi defended.

"Yeah, Ellie, he's not trying anything funny at all!" I added, but the damage was already done… Keita's face also turned a light pink and he lifted his hand and jumped away.

"But this seems just like Nii-sama's conquests…"

Nii-sama's conquests? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"Conquest?" Ayumi asked. Ellie, despite being red-faced and teary, still managed to reply.

"Y-you know… like da-dating and kissing…"

The room, which had been dropping in temperature before, seemed to have reached an all new low. Ayumi started blushing as well and Keita looked about ready to bolt. I was just bemused at the whole scene.

"Look, none of that weird shit is happening here! We're just here to learn about bass guitar!"

"Bu-but…" Ellie looked at Keita nervously. She really wasn't getting it…

"Ellie, it's nothing like what you're thinking!" but no matter what anyone said, Ellie probably wouldn't be assured. She needed 100 percent assurance.

"Keita is gay!"

The three of them stared at me… the first two confused, and the last one mad… Still, that was the 100 percent I was looking for.

"Gay?" Ellie asked. Had she never heard the phrase before?

"You know… he likes bo— Waah!"

Yep, that was me getting pulled out of the living room by Keita.

"What the hell was that!?" he hissed once we were at the entrance.

"Well, I'm sorry, but she needed the assurance that you weren't trying to hit on her!" I hissed right back.

"I had no intention of that!" he squeaked.

"I know… Ellie's way out of your league, even if you were…"

"Oi!"

"Shut up!" I held my one hand up and felt in my pocket of my light jacket with the other. It was vibrating. I glanced at the ID before picking up.

"Hi… Oka-san…"

"Are you free right now, Chihiro?" she got straight to the point.

"I'm actually with some friends right now…" suddenly, a vindictive look came on Keita's face. I mouthed 'no' and started walking back.

"Darling, who is that!?" Keita called with a slightly deeper voice, moving closer to the mouthpiece. I blanched.

"Chihiro, who was that?" my mother's voice was stern. I shoved Keita back.

"It was Keita, Oka-san! He's just messing around!" while I was speaking the truth, my voice was still hysterical. Keita was silently laughing.

"Don't be like that, Darling… Just come back to be–oof!" I kicked him in the stomach.

"It doesn't sound like Keita…" Oka-san replied.

"I swear, he's just joking! I'm not with any boyfriend or anything!" by now, my voice must've been 10 tones too high, and I could feel my palms getting sweaty. Keita, who'd fallen to the ground, was silently laughing his ass off.

"Well, I knew at some point that you'd be old enough for that…" for the life of me, I couldn't read her tone at all, "I guess we need to have _the talk_ now…"

No! No! Anything but that!

"No! We don't have to!" I replied, but regardless how much I willed against it, I could feel blood rushing up to my face.

"I know they teach you at school, but it's important to have a one-on-one chat about this kind of thing…"

"But I don't neeeed anything!"

"I know you're embarrassed, but avoiding this topic can lead to misunderstandings and mis–"

"NOOO! The only misunderstanding here is nothing is happening!"

If I wasn't mortified enough already, Ayumi and Ellie heard my screaming and came into the entrance. If sixteen years of friendship taught her anything, it was that whatever was happening here was good enough teasing material for the rest of eternity.

"So what's happening _heeere_?" she asked Keita. I kicked Keita on the shin so he wouldn't reply.

"Nothing is happening here," I hissed, but a drop of sweat trickled down the side of my head.

"Is someone else there?" Oka-san heard the change in my voice.

"Yeah, Ayumi…" it was a relief… I couldn't be doing anything weird with her around. She'd have to drop it now.

"Oh, so it's a threeso–"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Despite the fact that it was only me who could hear my mother, both Ayumi and Keita were dying on the floor. If this didn't stop soon, they'd be dead for another reason.

"Shut up!" I screamed, before remembering that I was still on the phone, "not you, Oka-san… Please just drop it!"

"Alright… it's your business, not mine…"

"There. Is. No. business, Oka-san!" I replied through gritted teeth, "why are you calling?"

"I have today off, so I figured we should get that guitar you wanted… but you seem a little busy…" I sighed. Now that I'd calmed down after screaming and shouting, me taking the bait just seemed really stupid. My mother, despite being anal-retentive, has a great sense of humour.

"I'll ditch these losers anytime," I eyed both Ayumi and Keita, who burst into laughter again, "let's meet at… Inazumart… in 45 minutes…" I had to say the last part louder to speak over my stupid friends.

"Alright, so you can wrap up on your side too… don't have too much fun…"

"Right…" I sighed… I have comebacks for everything, yet I had nothing to say here…

Probably because she's my mother, so I can't be too rude.

"Bye…"

"Bye bye," I ended the call and started glaring.

"What the hell, Keita!?"

"It's payback…" he grinned, "revenge is best served by your mother!"

I smiled… it was kind of funny, if you get over the mortification.

"It is, hey," I turned around to Ellie, who was the only one not joining in the action, "Ellie, we're going, so pick up your guitar," She nodded and walked off.

I raised my voice for the next word, "Oba-san!"

"Yes, Chihiro-chan," she came out of her room and stood by the upstairs banister.

I sent him a crafty smile, and he glared.

'You wouldn't dare,' his eyes said. Oh, I so would…

I'm pretty sure I heard the blood from his head trickle down at the thought of whatever blackmail I could use now.

That satisfied me enough.

"Thanks for letting us come over on such short notice… I hope that you don't mind that we had some popsicles," she waved her hand.

"It's no trouble at all… Are you going already?"

"I'm afraid so… my mother needs me urgently, so we'll wrap this visit up now."

"That's understandable… I hope you can come back soon…"

"I'll try. Bye then."

Both Ellie and Ayumi bowed slightly in thanks before they put their outdoor shoes back on. Keita walked us to the outside gate.

"Thanks…" he said, once his mother was out of earshot.

"I just wanted to see you squirm a bit," I replied, "besides, you did help us today… I'd be a very ungrateful guest if I got you grounded for a month."

"Who was on the phone, Chihiro-san?" Ellie asked belatedly. Both Keita and Ayumi have an advantage, because they've known me forever, but Ellie was both innocent and unfamiliar at how things are with me…

"It was just my mother…"

"But why did keep screaming and kicking Keita-san?"

"Umm…"

"That one was my fault…" Keita rubbed the back of his neck, "I said something that caused a misunderstanding…"

"Aaah… Alright then…" then something else occurred to her, "though why is Keita-kun speaking now?"

"His cold got better…"

"See, his voice still sounds a little weird, because it isn't back perfectly…" Ayumi added.

By this point, we were outside the main gate. We were interrupted by a loud yell and a crash of glass.

"What was that?" Ayumi asked, looking around. It didn't sound that close.

"Our neighbours… apparently the son brought his girlfriend to live with his family, so this kind of fighting is normal…"

Weird…

"Well, I guess we better go now… Thanks…"

"This was fun," Ayumi agreed… obviously it was fun for her…

"Thanks for trying to help me," Ellie added, pulling both straps of the case over her back, "I'm sorry that I punched you… and that I screamed at you when you were trying to help me," her cheeks turned a pink hue.

"It's fine… Though wait here one second…" Keita quickly ran inside and returned with his pad and markers.

"Bass can basically be summed up to this," he easily drew a diagram which I probably wouldn't be able to replicate in my life, "just try to play the notes here and it'll get easier."

He pulled out the sheet and handed it to her.

"Thanks," she smiled that cute smile of hers, but somehow, and just like how it warmed my heart, I could see whatever misgivings Keita had about her melt off his face.

Now, if only Keita could keep that smile all the time...

"Bye," he held out a fist at Ellie. Learning from before, she punched it lightly.

"I hope you get better, Keita-san."

He remembered the cold he was supposed to have and coughed unconvincingly.

"Right..."

"So we'll be off then," I steered Ellie away, "thanks for today, Keita."

"Yeah, I'll try to remember all those tips," Ayumi nudged her guitar. I'm pretty sure it was out of politenesss she said that, because I have no memory of him teaching her anything.

As we were walking back, Ayumi stepped in next to me.

"He didn't have a cold, did he?"

"Nah," I laughed, "the only sickness he's suffering right now is puberty..."

"I figured... Aniki kinda got like that as well..."

"Chihiro-saaan, Ayumi-saan... What are you talking about?"

Ayumi shot me a smile.

"Nothing really... he just drank too much coke..." surprisingly, it was Ayumi who said that.

"Wa-will he be alright?"

"Don't let it bother you... More importantly, we have to go get that guitar now!"

"You excited, Chihiro?"

"Hell yeah! And it's gonna be cuter than yours!"

* * *

**Man, now the pacing issues begin. I'll probably ditch the one day a chapter setting, because this'll go on forever, otherwise.**

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed this.**


	5. Maybe, I'm just weird

**First things, I'm really sorry at how long it took for this update. It wasn't writer's block, but my head has been running like crazy, and I've written this chapter thrice before I decided on something... I really am sorry, and I'll get to the next chapter a bit faster, hopefully.**

**Anyhoo, next chapter should cover the 4 Girls and an Idol chapters, so please stay tuned.**

* * *

On Monday, it was back to the same old stuff. Homeroom, me dozing through the rest of my lessons… me begging Miyako for notes after class was done…

Then came lunch, the only period I'm always awake for, regardless of what day it is. In Girls Walker, they had a double spread on Yuya Mutsushita, so you can bet I was drooling over him…

"Chihiro…" my eyes narrowed… who dare disturb me while I'm staring at cute celebrities? Then the voice called me again.

"Yeah," I lowered my magazine. Then I noticed Katsuragi was looking over his shoulder at me.

Why I didn't recognize that voice was a mystery to me as well. I kinda figured he wouldn't talk to me after that pie incident over the weekend.

But even before then, Katsuragi never started a conversation with anyone, least of all, me… and especially after that pie…

Revenge?

I considered picking up my magazine and just ignoring him, but I was curious, even if it was some kind of trap. I blocked the most of my face behind my book, just in case.

"I'm not going to get something thrown in my face if I move my magazine, right?" I peered over, but his hands were empty, save his PFP. Not to mention, I was far enough from where he was sitting that I could probably dodge anything he'd throw, anyway.

"No, it's not like that…" he scratched his ear, which I noticed was becoming slightly pinker, "I… I wanted to apologize…"

"For what?" It's not like he threw a pie in my face, did he?

"Elsie explained that you were just helping her, and that it was just an accident, so I reacted very badly…" I was taken aback at the look of remorse on his face.

Heck, I was taken aback at how he had a PFP in his hand and he wasn't playing a game.

I was also taken aback at how he had a face which wasn't a scowl or completely blank.

Man, why do I like this guy? Just seeing him show human emotions confuses me.

"It's alright," I shrugged, "it's not like I haven't given you any reason to distrust me…"

He didn't say anything for a moment which just sparked off my nervousness. I opened my magazine and picked up my juice box, so at least I could look busy.

"Alright… you should get back to your game now…" I took a sip of the cool liquid.

"But Ka-san said you had something to tell me as well…"

Good news… I didn't spray anyone with juice, because my magazine took the brunt of my spit-take.

Sorry, Yuya-chan…

I pulled out tissues and mopped it up best as I could. Still, the page was ruined… My heart was screaming and wailing. Though most likely, at what Katsuragi said.

Damn you, Katsuragi-san!

I imagined throwing my magazine at her head, but she just dodged easily and shot me a thumbs-up.

"Th-there wasn't anything in particular I had to say…" the mess gave me an excuse to not look him in the face.

"Even if it's something stupid, I'll listen…" my eyes flitted up, and he actually had a really nice look on his face… Like he was concerned, "more often than not, it's the stupid things that worry people…"

"It's not…"

Then it occurred to me, as I was cleaning the juice I spat up with a wet pocket tissue… I have done this way too many times…

Not spat out what I was drinking… just stupid stuff in general. Like following Mappy's plans… like slamming my head on my desk multiple times… like running away from a game which I could've won…

I've embarrassed myself time and time again… and for what? To save face? It's bloody ironic…

It is stupid! It'd bad enough that I like him, but since then, I've been acting even more stupid trying to hide it.

"Chihiro?"

I pushed myself up, my head pulsing slightly.

"You're right, this is stupid," my fingers were trembling, despite the hard grip I had on either side of the desk, "Ka-katsuragi..." I forced my eyes off the desk.

"Yeah?" he replied, expectantly.

"L-li…" I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that I'd get transported to some far off place, because I couldn't say it. I took a hard breath that hurt my throat.

"I li−"

"Hot Pot!" came Miyako's voice from behind me.

"Hot pot?" Katsuragi repeated.

"Yeah, Chihiro said she wants to eat from a hot pot soon…"

"And you had to stand up to tell me that?" I loosened my death grip and sat down slowly, both relieved and disappointed.

"Yeah, I've really been wanting that…" I said in a small voice.

"You should ask your mother to make some if you want it so much…" his chair scraped as he settled himself back into his seat. After the button clicking began, I knew this attempt was lost.

Gaah, that was so lame! I wanna die!

I really wanted to go to the bathroom to wash my face and slap some kind of sense into myself, but that two minute conversation of bloody NOTHING had zapped the energy out of me.

Not to mention, I don't even know what made sense anymore.

Then I'll need to explain this to Miyako… I don't even know if I'm mad or glad that she interrupted me… I probably wasn't ready to say it anyway, considering how much my tongue slipped on it…

The only reason I wasn't slamming my head against the table was because it was too sticky.

It took a few moments before my brain's autopilot turned on and I went to the bathroom to get some wet tissue and throw my magazine away. It gave me plenty of time to scream at my head and induce a proper headache.

Ugh…

The rest of my day, I forced myself to take notes. It helped, but I could still feel the shame bubbling in my stomach and my head pulsing.

Truly, the only time I really felt better was when I got home.

As soon as I opened my room door, my new amp and guitar popped into my vision, and whatever crap had gone on at school melted away. Now, it was just me and my guitar…

God, she is beautiful…

I wasn't sure why my head already decided my guitar was a girl, but she just was… it probably had to do with how pink my guitar was.

I plopped down on the ground in front of the bed and just started strumming the strings. That sound really was relaxing, considering what today had been like.

Still, after a few minutes, my aimless playing just got boring, so I raised my phone volume and turned on some song. I shut my eyes and tried to catch the drum beats.

Dhuck… dhuck… dhuck… dhuck…

My hands started flicking over the strings in time with those beats.

I quickly got up and grabbed a pick from inside my desk drawer, because I just thought up something.

I should just hum and strum to the music and see how that feels.

I did that for a couple songs, and I have to say… the pick is moving much more smoothly than when I started. I must be getting better.

Maybe music is my calling… I'm getting better at this so fast…

Unfortunately, the music stopped when reality called…

No, seriously… my phone's mp3 stopped when it started ringing…

Miyako… I just ignored it, but my stomach was jumping and I felt faint…

"Guitar… guitar…" I picked a couple of notes exuberantly, but the result was the same… my music rush was over and all my mind could think of was what happened at lunch…

"Damn you, Miyako," I sang along with my angry playing. I still wasn't willing to let of my guitar.

The ringing stopped. I sighed in relief and tried to get back into the mood.

My phone dinged. It was a message from Miyako.

"I'm outside your house, and I could hear your phone. There's no point hiding."

Geh, I should've used headphones…

I ducked and crawled out onto the balcony. It was still light out, and as she had said, Miyako was on the other side of the gate. I got onto my feet.

"What are you, a stalker?" she laughed.

"Funnily, not the first time I've heard that from you…" she adjusted her bag, "can I come in?"

"Eh, you're going to vault over the gate and break into my house anyway… I'll let you in," I pulled the guitar strap off my back and lay her on the bed.

Truth is, I have no clue what she'd even want to say… Most likely, she'd want to know why I lost my head and fell for the biggest dweeb in school… if she even cares enough…

Yeah, Miyako isn't the romantic type at all… what would she even want to talk about?

"Do you want something to drink?" I asked as she took off her shoes.

"No thanks… I just came here on my way home… I'll be brief."

"On your way home," I scoffed. Her house is even further than Ayumi's, and my house is definitely not en route to there. Whatever she had to say must be pretty important, "though it's fine… let's go to my room."

This house is probably empty, but it's better safe than sorry. She sat on my bed and I took the chair, which I swiveled so I was looking at her.

"So what's up?" I tried not to look too curious…

"I just wanted to talk about- Oh, is that a new guitar?" She patted her. My guard slid down slightly because music was always a safe subject.

"Yeah, just got it yesterday…" I sighed, "though at a higher price…"

"It can't have been that bad…" still, her eyes boggled when I told her the price.

"Ayumi's 50 grand one sounds cheap now…"

"Yeah, Oka-san only agreed to this if I got a part-time job over the holidays and paid for the difference…" I leaned back on my swivel chair, "that's gonna be annoying!"

"Working part-time isn't bad, actually… I help at my parent's shop over the holidays for extra allowance…"

"Still, at least you get something out of it… my mother'll take most of the money I earn… not to mention, I don't even like working…"

"Well, you did get a cool guitar out of it… My keyboard is probably half my age…"

I half-nodded. She did have a point.

"In any case, I actually came to talk about this band thing… when will we start practicing?"

That was a very Miyako like question, and I was feeling a little relieved. I doubt Miyako even cared about what happened today. What was I even getting nervous about?

"Well, you guys are busy after school, so how about this weekend… or do you guys have Track on Saturdays as well?" She shook her head.

"Though we should check with Elsie as well… she might be busy…"

"Yeah, that's true… maybe we should discuss it tomorrow at school…"

"Sounds like a good idea… We'll also need to find a location as well…" I watched her for a few moments before she stood up, "that's all, really…"

"When you said brief, you really meant it…" she smiled.

"What, expecting a long grilling about what happened at lunch today?"

"Kinda, yeah…" I was so surprised at her perceptiveness that I forgot to be embarrassed at that reminder.

"Well, rest assured, it's none of my business what you feel about him or what you do…" somehow, that calmed me… she wouldn't make a big deal about it.

She pulled her school bag over her shoulder. Still, if it wasn't her business, why interfere?

"Then why did you stop me?"

"Consider it a service from your friend," her green eyes twinkled, "confessing in a classroom with so many people is really lame… like confessing at karaoke or at a family restaurant…"

"Oooh…" her point sank in, and she really was right. It may be something I'd regret if I'd actually gone through with it, "then it probably was a good thing… Thanks…"

"Though I was wondering…" she looked down, "did something happen between you two?"

My eyebrow shot up… despite it not being her business, she was still curious?

"No… why would you think that?"

"Just… it seems like you've always disliked him… that was pretty surprising, even for me… I was wondering if you rem… if something happened…"

"Nah," I spun my seat around again, "I basically only see him in class, so nothing's happened…"

"Alright, that makes sense… so you have no reason for liking him…"

Not that I've really thought about it too much, but that is pretty much on the dot… I don't really know him well enough… nor was there any physical reasons for me liking him… he was moderately cute at best, and he doesn't even talk to anyone nicely… then why?

"I don't have a reason why I like him…" my heels bumped against my chair legs as my spinning slowed down, "I just do…"

Yeah, it's not like I chose to like him, anyway.

"Then it's definitely a good thing that you didn't tell Katsuragi…" I shot her a questioning look, "rather, let me put it like this…" she turned around and plopped back onto the bed.

"Basically," she started, "I don't think this'll last long."

"Exactly!" I slapped my hands on my thighs. This was a point which I've brought up, both to my head and Mappy. My agreement seemed to fuel her.

"You don't have a reason to like him," I nodded, "also, you don't get along," I nodded again, "so getting to know him better wouldn't give you any more reason to like him," and again, "so actually, it won't take long for the crush to wear off…"

"It won't?"

"Yeah, and once it's done, you'll probably dislike him…" my bobble-head impression slowed at that last phrase…

"I'll dislike him?"

"Well, he doesn't really have the qualities you like, so yeah…" she lifted herself up, "that's the end of Miyako-chan's impromptu love counseling…"

"Oh yeah, should I let you out?" I stood up, dazed. Miyako put a hand on my head and pushed me back down, which gave me a slight static shock.

"Don't worry, I'll let myself out…" she pointed at the balcony, "I could just jump out of there…" she grinned at my shocked face.

"Please use the door," she pouted.

When I blinked though, the weirdest thing happened… light blue bubbles appeared in my vision, like I'd been staring at the sun too long… except they'd normally be yellow…

As soon as I opened my eyes again, they were gone.

"You alright, Chihiro?"

"Err, yeah…" I stood up, "I should stop being a lazy shmuck though…"

She still had a concerned look on her face for the entire time I walked her out. More weirdly, yellow fluffy orbs kept flashing in and out my vision…

"You look a bit pale," Miyako remarked, once she was outside the gate, "you should probably get some sleep…"

"Yeah, maybe…" I sighed, "I'll see you tomorrow, Miyako."

"Bye- bye… don't worry, I won't mention that thing to Ayumi…" Geh, I hadn't even thought about that…

"Thanks," my voice was weak. She smiled and started walking back home.

My brain is really all over the place right now… like I had been worried about Miyako then I wasn't worried about Miyako… then those weird things which kept popping up when my eyes closed…

I shut my eyes deliberately, but nothing appeared.

Great, so they've stopped…

I moved my guitar back to her case before throwing myself face first, into my pillow. At least, now those weird light things are gone, I can actually think about what Miyako had said.

"I'll hate him, huh?"

True, the way he acts makes it pretty easy to dislike him, but it is a little admirable too… most of the teachers don't have any qualms with him playing, because he gets good marks… also, because everyone knows he's weird, any outbursts or unexpected toilet breaks are completely ignored.

Frankly, as he is, he has the entire school wrapped around his pinky… just like any popular guy would… could that be why I like him?

Haah, no way! He isn't popular… he's infamous! Like Hitler!

Still, despite that comparison, I can't imagine hating Katsuragi… he's weird, and I don't really want to like him, but he isn't a bad guy…

He can be nice… just this morning, he forgave me…

Though I had apologized twice, so it isn't much…

Eeeh, considering how half-hearted my feelings are, it's no wonder Miyako thinks I'll get over it soon…

It will be anti-climatic when that does happen though…

I got up once the heat started becoming too much. It was about time I started preparing for the term tests anyway.

I went to the bathroom to splash my face so I could cool down and wake up a little, because, God knows how sleepy I'm going to get with my books open.

In the mirror, though, all I could notice were those bubbles, this time a dull purple

"Eh, I'm imagining this…" the bubbles flashed red at the edges. I stared at the mirror, but there really was nothing there. For the millisecond where my eyes were closed, the slight orbs were only visible then.

What are those? Tamayura?

I'm not in the sun, and they're not even the right colour for them to be sun reflections.

I watched my reflection behind closed eyes, where the violet bubbles floated. Now that I was actually paying attention, the bubbles actually disappeared once it past what I could only imagine was my outline… so it has something to do with me…

Or people… I think when I was looking at Miyako, I could see them too…

The colour started morphing into a bright yellow…

Wha-what the hell is this? A hallucination…

The orbs slowly darkened to an orange.

I slowly looked down and walked back to my room, my heart beating faster than my clutch pencil during math.

"My brain is alright… I am not seeing stuff…" I tried to assure myself, taking deep breaths, "let me just get some water, and those bubbles will go away…"

"Oh yes, there's also pudding in the fridge…" that thought was strangely calming for me… pudding is great! I could have pudding for breakfast…

"No pudding!?" I was outraged when I opened the fridge. Chitose was in the room when I turned around, "did you eat the pudding?"

"No!" he shook his hands, when I blinked, I could see light blue bubbles lined in red.

"I find that a little hard to believe…" I wasn't convinced, because my brother was both a terrible liar, and he was the only one home. I'd seen the pudding when I'd came into the kitchen earlier.

But considering how weird that orb situation was, it occurred to me that the lining was usually clear… why red?

"Did… did you play soccer today?" I asked.

"Of course…" the lining of the bubbles changed to green.

Gaah! I have a bloody lie detector in my head…

Wait, I have a lie detector in my head… suddenly, the whole prospect stopped scaring me…

I was like a hero from some show… with this kind of ability, I could go fight crime and catch criminals…

This was awesome!

There was a loud beep behind me. Chitose was looking at his phone, so he must've gotten some mail.

The light blue bubble dulled down to a grey at the message.

"Nee-chan…" he muttered, lowering his phone with shaking hands, "Ka-san says we have to start studying today…"

"Sure, later…" I started walking off. I had to tell Ayumi of my new found powers now… then I'd go visit her and grill her about who she likes…

Waah, I can't wait!

"Nee-chan," he grabbed my jacket, "Ka-san is coming home in ten minutes, and if we're not studying, we're both grounded forever…"

"Come on! I have things to do!" I groaned. If this was an anime, the threat for eternal grounding would not be a problem.

I should be changing lives and coaxing out other people's secrets, dammit!

"Nee, Chitose…" he looked up at me, "do you like Tomoko-chan?"

"No way," he laughed. I was just disappointed that there wasn't a shred of a lie there… he's still too young to be crushing on girls.

"Now let's go study, Nee-chan… we don't want to get in trouble…"

So, instead of doing something fun, like learning the limits to my new powers or even using them for something, I was in front of my Japanese History book, spinning my pen between my fingers. True to my mother's threat, she did some and make sure we were studying. No eternal groundings as of yet, but I was still scared to even leave my table, because my mother has ears of a bat.

I opened my desk drawer, looking for an eraser, when I noticed something was glowing. I pulled it closer, when I noticed it was the pair of useless scissors which had been sitting in there for god knows how long. No eraser, though…

"Gah, I'm sick and tired of this!"

Suddenly, Katsuragi's face appeared in my mind, his hair wet with rain, and an angry look on his face. The distance closed, and I could feel a warm, soft pressure against my lips.

"Waah!" I slipped off my chair, my nose breaking my fall.

"Ow ow ow ow!" I sat up and held my nose, but luckily, it didn't seem to be bleeding.

"Chihiro, are you alright?" the room door bust open, and my mother came in. Once she noted that I was fine, the lecture about sleeping on my notes began… I sighed, but nodded along whenever it felt appropriate.

Still, I could feel myself chewing on my lower lip, which wasn't a normal habit of mine. It was like my mouth had gotten pins and needles, and that was the only thing which would calm them down.

Wait, those bubbles are gone…

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! My pooooweeeers!

"Are you listening to me, Chihiro?"

Then, the lecture for rudeness and inattentiveness began. She only left ten minutes later after I'd stopped her mid rant, reminding her that I still had to study.

Like hell I'd study, though… my head was still whirring.

First, I randomly start seeing stuff… after that, I start having daydreams about Katsuragi… that's just weird!

I know I'm not the most grounded person, but my daydreams usually are never that specific… nor do they ever revolve around Katsuragi…

I always assumed it was because the only thing he does is play games, so I can't imagine him in any other role… it could also be that I can't imagine him in a romantic hero role, even though I do like him

So that now I can imagine him… does it mean that I could imagine seeing myself with him… or is it that he's been reduced to the same level as my last number of crushes?

What a weird afternoon… maybe I am more of a space case than I thought I was… supernatural powers… the hell?

I bet there was something in the pudding… did I even eat the pudding?

* * *

At lunch on Tuesday, Ellie's whimpering disturbed my second take on reading Girl's Walker (I brought a new one, alright). I glanced to my left. As it appeared, Ayumi seemed to be interrogating her on something.

"What's happening here?"

"I was just asking Ellie what she thought of your cousin…" I shrugged.

"I was contemplating it before, but I doubt she likes him…" I flipped to the next page. Ayumi pulled a face.

"But Ellie doesn't show any interest to the guys in this class… I was hoping there'd at least be something interesting with Keita-kun…"

"Keita-kun?" Miyako asked.

"My cousin… he was helping Ellie with the bass on Sunday."

"Oh, anything worth noting?" Ayumi laughed.

"I'm pretty sure he fell for that million watt smile she gave him at the end…"

"He put his hand over hers to teach her…" I added.

Miyako's smiled got bigger at those words.

"Geez, Ayumi-san… Chihiro-san…" Ellie whined, still red-faced, "you've got it all wrong!"

"Though you shoulda seen it," Ayumi put a hand on Miyako's shoulder, "they were having such a moment when we were leaving…"

"Yeah… with those sweet, shy smiles and those fist bumps… you could see the flowers in the background…"

"That sounds like fun… so they had a good thing going?"

"Yeah," Ayumi closed off, but Ellie still wasn't happy…

"But I don't like Keita-san!" she banged her fists on the desk.

"Hmm?" an entirely different voice intruded the conversation. The four of us turned back to the front of the room, where Katsuragi was looking at us.

"What?" Ayumi sniped, her face darkening.

"I heard my name…" he looked at the sandwich he had in his hands… most likely, he had passed us on the way back to his seat. It took a second to sink in why he heard that.

"No one here calls you by your first name, Katsuragi."

"Someone has a bit of a big head, eh, Otamega…"

He finished the route back to his seat, but from the back, I could tell his ears were red from embarrassment. I had to hide a smile behind my magazine.

"He really can be cute..." I turned back to everyone, who were giving me strange looks.

Geh, I said that out loud, didn't I?

"Y-yeah… Keita is usually pretty annoying, but when Ellie was talking with him, he really was quite cute…"

"Eh, you're crushing on your cousin?" Ayumi's hand rose to her mouth in mock shock.

"No way!" I flapped off her words.

"It could be worse… it could be a step-brother… or a real brother…" Both me and Ayumi gave Miyako a look. She was just not helping.

"Alright, change of topic," Ayumi announced, "did anyone hear Kanon-chan's new song?"

"_Omoi wa Rain Rain_, right?" Ellie was more excited for this conversation.

"It's way slower than her usual songs, hey?"

"Still, I wouldn't mind sharing an umbrella with a cute guy…" I remarked.

"If it has something to do with cute guys, Chihiro-san would do anything…" I was appalled… I'd expect something like that from Ayumi, but never Ellie…

"Eh, Ellie, I'm not that shallow… Stop corrupting her, Ayumi…"

"Hey, I'm not the one with a book of cute guys…"

"I don't have it anymore… I donated it to some girls in middle school before Golden Week…"

Still, it didn't stop them all from laughing.

* * *

The rest of the week went on like normal… now that everyone was getting a little better at using their instruments, we had made plans on Saturday to go to this studio and practice as a group once school was done. Still, before then, I had someone who I wanted to introduce my guitar to.

Which is why, on Friday afternoon, I slid into the Student council room like a rock star.

"Chihiro-san," the Prez greeted me, "I see you have company," he nodded at the guitar.

"Yep," I got back onto my feet, "isn't she a beaut?" He was just about to stroke the smooth basswood body, but I snatched it away, "No touchies!"

"Aww, why not?

"Coz you're a guy… you'll make her feel self-conscious," he pulled his hands back apologetically.

"Sorry about that… Though does she have a name?"

That was something I'd actually been thinking about. Since I'd already decided my guitar was a girl, it was inevitable that she'd need a name. Still, it was childish…

I've brought my guitar to school since Tuesday, but I've been careful to refer to her without any kind of gender, because I still was a little bit embarrassed. It would really suck if people thought of me as more childish than what I already appear.

"Not really… I suck at giving names," I admitted. That was part of the reason as well.

Now, if I was so worried about people thinking of me as childish, why would I be saying all this to the school president, who's a cute guy, older than me, and nowhere near as close to me as my friends from class? Those may be the reasons, actually.

He was actually one of the guys I confessed to when I was still doing that whole thing, and somehow, within five minutes, he read me like a book. He's both perceptive and sensitive, so he's the perfect guy to talk to about this kind of stuff.

I lie… he's the perfect guy to talk about anything with… I could go from morose to completely cheerful and silly, and he wouldn't bat an eyelid. That's why he's the closest thing I have to a confidante.

"Hmm, what if I thought of a name?" He motioned for me to sit, which I did, after I put my guitar back into her case.

"I'll listen…" I replied. He poured some tea into a cup and pushed it towards me. He shrugged.

"I don't have anything in mind now, but I'll send you a mail if I think of a name which suits her," he swirled a spoon in his own cup, "is something bothering you?"

Right on the bat, as usual…

"Do you think I'm childish?"

"Yes," he didn't skip a beat, which amused me, "but not in a bad way… you're just very expressive, which is nice…"

"I also do stupid stuff like sliding into rooms and putting chocolate into tea…" I reminded him.

"Yep, those too…" he chuckled, "but you're like that to everyone…"

"I'm not!" I disagreed, "I don't tell everyone about how my guitar is a girl…"

"Still, you sometimes walk backwards when you're talking to people and you'll usually sit on your table before class starts…" he tapped his thin glasses frame, "in fact, I'd actually say you act more mature here…"

"I do?" I tried to think back, but it wasn't really coming to my head, "have you been stalking me?"

"I just see you often…" he shrugged, "and half of the time, you wave to me, so by that count, you'd be stalking me as well…"

"Point taken," I leaned on my right hand, "though you're pretty tall… you can't blame me for seeing you."

"Right…" the conversation dwindled as we drank our tea, of which mines definitely didn't have chocolate. Gah, that was gross stuff!

"Say…" his light brown eyes peered over his glasses, "isn't it hot with that undershirt?" I hadn't given it much thought, but in this heat, he must be burning in that long-sleeved shirt.

"I get colds often, so I have to dress warmly…" he replied, his eyes drifting back to his tea, "which reminds me… are you going to write that song you were so excited for?"

"That was a few weeks ago, you know?" I lowered my head slowly, "but no, my lyrics were horrible…"

They really were… I had to save face by telling everyone that Ellie was singing it, which was a real dick move. Both Nanas would have been disappointed if they heard that.

"So, my leadership skills were horrible…" he scoffed, "doesn't mean they didn't get better."

"Even still, they're super bad! And I don't have anything I want to sing about…"

"Then sing about how blue the sky is and how you're so sleepy… that's music, you know?"

Behind those rims, his eyes were flashing with a passion that I even caught it…

"Yeah!" I banged my fist on the table, "I'm gonna write a song!"

"You do that!" He agreed, "Also, please don't do that again…" I noticed the tea which had spilled out of the saucer.

"Sorry 'bout that…" I scratched my head, "yeah, the world just wasn't ready for my food poisoning song…"

"You have a food poisoning song?" Crap!

"No… no way…"

"Then why's your face red?"

"Sha-shut up!"

**Honestly, for such a long chapter, not a lot happened... I just wanted some more subtle developments and humour, so here ya go.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and doing all the other stuff you guys do. It does mean a lot, and I hope it continues like this.**

**Which brings me to another thing... I do intend on naming Chihiro's guitar, so I'm going to throw the ball to you guys and let you choose a name. Probably, how it'll go is you guys can leave a review with a name you like, and I'll make a poll where you can vote in a few days. If not, I do have a name in mind.**

**Any kind of name'll do, so don't think you're limited to Japanese-sounding names alone.**

**With that, I am done... till next time.**


	6. Maybe I need to try a little harder

**And here I was thinking I'd get this out faster... hehehe, that so didn't happen.**

**Firstly, I apologize greatly. I've had rough term in university and an equally rough holiday, ****so finding the time to write this was a nightmare on it's own.**

**Of course, I will try a little harder, but no ****guarantees there.**

**Secondly, one of my reviews asked who's perspective this story is in, so I'll reply anyway. Both TMBD and TFPD are in Chihiro's point of view, save for a couple of chapters that go into third person narrative.**

**That being said, please enjoy... though if you're looking for more Keima, you're better of reading the next chapter when it comes out, because this is mostly about the 2B Pencils.**

* * *

"That was a good movie, wasn't it?" I switched the TV off. Chitose shrugged next to me.

"I just came because there was popcorn," he shoved his hand into the nearly empty bag, "besides, shouldn't we be studying for term test now?"

"I am studying!" I protested. While it wasn't school work, this was a famous movie about a group of musical underdogs who overcome the odds and become great musicians. It was pretty interesting.

"Nee-chan, you really should study…" Chitose said condescendingly.

"I don't wanna hear this from someone who does worse than me at school," I stood up and climbed onto the bed.

"Well, I've got other things to focus on… you can't be good at everything…" he popped a few more kernels into his mouth.

"So do I… and I still did better at the half-term tests…"

"No ya didn't."

"Yes I did."

"No ya difn't."

"Don't speak while you're eating, loser…"

"Who cares…" he continued polishing the last of the movie snacks.

"If you must be such a weirdo, at least give me an idea what I can call my guitar…" I pointed at her, where she was leaning against the amp.

"Chitose sounds like a good name…" I swung my leg in his direction to kick him, even though he was too far away. He picked up the leftover bag of popcorn and strolled to the door.

"You're useless, you know that? The name has to be meaningful and special and not the same as yours…" He stuck his tongue at me.

"Don't care… I'm going to study now…" he left, not closing the door behind him, "if I think of something better, I'll tell you later!"

I snorted, making myself comfortable on the bed…

It was stupid asking him for help on that… his naming sense is even worse than mines, and I'm the one with a stuffed bunny called Gyuu-kun.

"Now, for a limited time only, this casser−"

"No!" I shoved the off button, as if it had done something to offend me. Well, I did hate television shopping…

Eh, I know term papers are starting in two weeks and I haven't studied more than the revision and homework I'd been doing, but I was a little worried… after school tomorrow, we'll be going to our first ever jam session at this studio Miyako knows about…

Hehe... As if I'd worry about school...

Actually, I'm not too worried… I'd say I sound pretty good, so it's really up to everyone else, but I'd say we're good to go… I've even been saving some of my allowance, because you have to hire studio rooms… not to mention, we'll need snacks… you can't practice on an empty stomach.

Though Chitose is right… I need to study…

English is first, so maybe I'll start there… Though where!? Do I just start with whatever we've done so far this trimester?

"Verbs… participles… con-contractions… adjectives…"

What the hell is this? The people who invented English should just die.

I worked at it for a while longer, defining those words and finding examples, but it was not easy or fun… Just forty minutes in, I could feel the incoming headache. My head lowered onto the table and I shut my eyes.

"Why are classes so difficult?" My eyes snapped open… that sounds like a complaint everyone makes… that could be a line in one of my songs…

I grabbed my phone to quickly note it down… I've already learned papers in my room aren't safe, so keeping it within my phone was really the best.

It joined my "I've shed the me from yesterday," which incidentally, I wrote yesterday…

Who am I kidding? I have no clue how to actually write songs… I have no clue what genre I'm going for… just those words alone sound stupid…

But Nee-san's done this before… maybe it would be best to ask her…

I was about to dial her number when I remembered I was still supposed to be studying… not to mention, I could be calling her in the middle of the night… This music stuff is bothering me, but for the time being, I need to work so I can understand all this crap.

* * *

"Right, so are we going now?" I asked Ellie and Miyako after the bell after school was finished for the week.

"Sorry, Chihiro-san," Ellie slapped her hands together, "Oka-sama needs me to go shopping for dinner…"

"Eh, Miyako?"

"I forgot, but I'm on cleaning duty today… I'll be free once I'm done."

"But I thought we were gonna practice today…" I crossed my arms and pouted… everyone's raining on my parade!

"Please tell me you're free now," I asked Ayumi, who was walking by us, her bag over her shoulder. A guilty look came on her face.

"Not you too!?" I moaned, making all three of them laugh.

"Sorry, Kodoma saw me crash into the staircase last week, so now I have to go repaint the newly plastered wall…"

"That is why we walk, Ayumi," Miyako chastised her. Ayumi laughed nervously in turn, waving it off.

"You guys suck… I thought we made plans…"

"And we will practice today… maybe in an hour or so…" Ellie and Miyako agreed, their heads bobbed in unison.

"Well, there's no helping it," they are usually busy, "maybe we should meet at Kurokawa at 2?"

I said my goodbyes to them and left the room… I had no clue what I was going to do for an hour and a half, but I figured I may as well pick up snacks… and a popsicle for this damn weather. Maybe Katsuragi would want one too…

Wait, why am I thinking about bringing him one?

"Don't stop like that!" some kid behind me yelled. I blushed and continued.

No! No yummy water-based treats for Katsuragi… I'm not even guaranteed to see him now.

"So will that be all?" the cashier asked.

"Yeah," I put my basket of snacks on the till.

"Designated snack buyer?" She started scanning through the candy and chips.

"Yeah, they're all busy now…" a strange edge came over my voice.

I knew what that edge was: envy… It's weird that I'm jealous of the fact that they have stuff to do and I don't, but to me, it just highlights how different I am from them. They're always busy and moving forward, while I'm still stuck.

Well, I guess me learning guitar is me moving forward, but I'm kinda strolling, compared to everyone else's running, and it does bother me a little.

Ah well… it's something. And I'm not gonna lose to anyone when it comes to my love of music.

"Chihiro-chan?" I glanced up when I heard my name.

"Shinji-kun?" he laughed and waved. It was weird seeing him out of school, but I guess, because it's a Saturday, he probably has enough time to kill by the magazine rack at a convenience store.

"You can't avoid me forever, can you?" my stomach clenched with guilt, "but never mind that, how's it going?"

"Alright," I nudged my guitar case, "I picked up guitar, so I've been pretty busy recently…" the bag of snacks shifted in my slightly sweaty palms, "how about you?"

"Same old same old… We thrashed Misato 43-35 at our last game," he flipped the page on the magazine he was reading, which was surprisingly not a car magazine.

"Is that a Chau chau?" I nodded at the magazine. I recognized the cover.

"What, guys are allowed to read these, it's pretty boring, though," I got on my toes so I could see what article he was reading.

"Things heat up, both off and on set of _The Desert_…"

"Yep, it's a soap opera… Apparently Kanon-chan and her enemy, played by Mitsuo Tachibana, were really hitting it off on set, so now they're dating… thus, paparazzi jumped on it like Garfield on Lasagna."

"Do you actually believe that?"

"No way… it's a publicity stunt," he flicked a nail on the page, "she seems way too down to earth to go for that…" I pulled the magazine out of his hands to get a closer look.

"That… he's actually pretty cute…" and he really was. He only looked a little older than us, but his blond frosted hair and his smirk was definitely attractive. I'd never seen the drama, but you can bet I was gonna try it now.

"Even still, I saw Kanon-chan on a date once, and it definitely wasn't this guy."

"A date?"

"Yep, it was with someone from our school… I can't remember when, but I definitely saw them at a café together, looking pretty cozy…"

"Really… How is this boring?" I handed the magazine back.

"Only once the love triangle drama starts, then this'll become interesting…"

"You think so, huh?"

"Yeah," he shut the magazine and put it back on the rack, "with two people, it's completely straightforward… with a third party, it forces action from everyone and there isn't a clear cut choice… not to mention the added personality from the third party changes the dynamic all together…"

I gave him a look.

"Alright, I like this particular soap opera… don't judge…" his phone started ringing, "do you mind if I get that?"

"Sure…" it was nearly two anyway, "I'll go on ahead."

"Hey Babe," I stopped for a second, before chuckling... You can bet Mappy's gonna get flack from me about that nickname.

* * *

Outside the air conditioning of the convenience store, the heat fell like a huge pile of bricks. I pulled out the popsicle and thanked the Gods that I took of my summer vest while I was still at school.

Damn, it's too hot today! And the guitar case is just heating up my back more… must distract myself…

I pulled out my phone and decided to try my sister. I wasn't cough*not*cough studying, so now was a bad time. It's been a couple of days since we talked, anyway.

"Hello," she picked after the second bell.

"You're not busy, are you?"

"No, we just finished classes here. How are you?"

"Decent… I'm going for my first official band practice today. You?"

"Can't complain… that's great about your band… are you going to be playing soon?"

"I hope so… still, it isn't easy, because everyone wants to play different stuff, and we still need to find a drummer… we haven't even decided on a name… and it's so hot today!" She laughed.

"Well, you're bound to collide into those hurdles… like running, you just take them one at a time… so let's start with the heat…"

"Technically dealt with… I'm eating ice cream now and I took off that stupid vest…"

"Then why are you complaining?"

"Because I can… I miss when it was still raining…"

"You do?"

"Yeah, the rainy days are much better…" I swear I heard a scoff on the other side.

"Well, the sunny days are here now…"

"I wish it would rain a bit more, though… this weather is horrible like this," she laughed again.

"When you were younger, I used to tell you that rain was the sky crying, so you'd stick up Teru Teru Bozus to get the sky all happy again…"

"I did that?" I was embarrassed, but the slightest bit pleased to hear that.

"Yes… you were a sweet kid… what happened to you?"

"Oi! I'm still a nice person!" She laughed at my mock angry tone.

"Yeah, you are…" her tone dropped, "unlike me…"

Somehow, I knew what she might have been thinking about. The thing I've never gotten a straight answer for since it happened.

"You're not a bad person… and you could just make up for anything you've done…"

"It's not as simple as that… between that accident and you getting hurt, that little brat was the worst!"

"Little brat?"

"But despite that, I took my anger on the person who didn't deserve it, and I can't take back what I did," apparently that brat comment flew over her head in her own tirade.

"You just punched the guy who hit your sister with a motorcycle. How does that make you a bad person?"

After a few seconds pause, she replied.

"That wasn't all…"

"Then what did you do?" another moment of silence passed.

"I'm not allowed to say…" I felt myself clench up… I was stupid for hoping for something, when in the end, it's just the same crap over and over again.

"Then what can you say!?" the chill in my voice did nothing to cool the air around me. On the other side, I heard her take a deep breath.

"DMT463…" she sighed, "and I'm not going to repeat that."

"What the hell is that?"

"I can't tell, but that may give you an indication…"

"But what is it?"

"You'll have to figure that out yourself… But I'm at my residence now, so I've got to go."

"Hey, you can't leave like that!" But somewhere in that sentence, she shut the call.

I glared at my phone… still; this wasn't the weirdest conversation I've had with my sister…

I finally noted my surroundings, and luckily, I was at the right place, given the guitars on display and the big, Kurokawa written above the shop. And for once, I was definitely early.

"Hi," Miyako greeted. How long she'd been standing by me, I have no clue, but she was definitely here, a plastic fan in her hands, "who were you talking to?"

"Nee-san," I shrugged, "she's being difficult, as usual…"

"I see…" she gave me a sympathetic smile, "I'm sure she wasn't doing it on purpose."

"Maybe," I opened a new note on my phone, so I could write whatever code Nee-san had given, "three letters, three numbers… what do you think has those?"

"A car license plate, maybe?"

"Ugh!" I shuddered… the thought of a car was bad enough, but having to find that license plate would be impossible. It better be something else, or Nee-san is definitely on drugs.

"Man, I wish air conditioning worked outdoors," I leaned onto the wall. We were going to meet outside Kurokawa's music shop, but I forgot how much of a killer this weather was and my ice-cream was history now, just reminding me even further how I couldn't do anything against this weather.

"Just endure it a little longer... besides, Kurokawa is going to move into Inazumart during the holidays. Also, I would probably stop leaning on that."

"Why?" I looked up. It was a poster of Kanon… a huge fabric poster bigger than the display window, "Whoa!"

"I know, right?" I pulled myself off the poster and took a moment to admire the crisp colours and the more-than-necessary amount of pink. Still, the concept was pretty nice.

"How great would it be if we were on a poster like that?"

"Honestly, I'd be embarrassed to be watched by a huge picture of me…"

"Fair point…" The two of us looked at the poster. I could feel sweat dripping down my neck. Miyako wasn't as cool as a cucumber, but her fan did relieve some of the heat for her.

I wish I had a fan. It's so hot. At my next complaint, Miyako decided to blow some warm air my way. Just the fact it was moving did help, even though the sun was brutally burning everything that was outside today.

"Say, what's that?" She nodded at the plastic bag in my hand.

"Snacks… I was thinking we could eat them during practice."

"Don't studios usually ban food?"

"You're kidding!" before she replied, Ayumi's footsteps came into earshot, followed by her slight panting. Even if I didn't see her, it would've been pretty clear that she was running. Luckily it wasn't the running where she'd crash into the larger-than-life Kanon and knock Kurokawa out of business.

"Sorry," just Ayumi's apology reminded me that we did have a set time. According to my phone, she missed it by four minutes.

"You're late, Ayumi." I jokingly scolded her.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Well, we still have some time."

"It's only Ellie left now," Miyako added. Ayumi started fanning some imaginary cold air onto her face with her vest, so Miyako flapped her fan to help.

I don't really know what it is, but watching Ayumi's slight smile as Miyako tried to cool her was kind of soothing to watch. It's just such a normal thing which most people wouldn't appreciate, less notice.

'These precious, unchanging days swallow us, don't they?'

I pulled out my phone to write that down.

"Sending a mail to Ellie?" Miyako asked.

"Nah, I just thought of a line," I quickly typed it in.

"A line… you really _are_ composing a song?" that tone of disbelief bothered me.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I glanced up from the screen. Unlike what I was expecting, she actually looked pretty excited.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" she moved he head so she could see my screen, but I shut the screen.

"Nope… wait till it's done," she frowned jokingly.

"Meanie," She turned away. Miyako exclaimed when she saw Ellie running towards us, her footsteps much lighter than Ayumi's.

"Sooorry!" She stopped, surprisingly smoothly, considering it was Ellie, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

So she's the last one, eh… the same look appeared on Ayumi's face when she Judo chopped Ellie on the head.

"You're late."

"Yep Ellie, you lose!"

Yeah, the face she was pulling was pretty funny. We stopped bothering her after that.

"We're all here now."

"Shall we go then?" Miyako asked, picking up her packed keyboard. We started walking, making idle chatter as we headed off to our first real practice.

I wonder how Ellie's bass is going?

"Huh?" She was nowhere in sight. She was still by that ridiculously pink promotional banner, "Ellie!"

"C-Coming!"

Out of the middle of nowhere, one of Kanon's songs started playing. My eyes drifted up to huge TV somewhere overhead, which was showing a bunch of colourful shots of Kanon running around, switching between her iconic pink dress and a skimpy orange bikini.

"Waah! Kanon-chaan!" Ellie started waving her bass guitar case like there was no tomorrow, so I put my hand on hers to calm her down before she broke something.

"It's a bit too fan-service-y if you ask me," Miyako commented, "that close-up of her butt wasn't necessary when she was rolling in the sand."

"The camera-man was obviously male!" I agreed, a little outraged, but still a little jealous at how good she looked in a bikini, "Kanon-chan is the same age as us… It's plain wrong to be gawking at her like that."

Then again, with that bod, it doesn't surprise me… Guys are just pervs…

Ayumi was silent while watching that. I hope she's not getting self-conscious, because she'd look great in a bikini too. If we ever go into that business, I damn well wouldn't let any camera take a close-up of her.

The song excerpt ended.

"Nice song… the video may be a bit too much…" Both Ayumi and Miyako nodded. We look expectantly at Ellie.

"I dunno… it reminds me of one of those special anime episode openings… It's catchy too!"

"Aren't we a little too close to the fourth wall?" Miyako asked.

"Yeah, we better move away before Ayumi runs into it and breaks it!"

"Oy!" Then I started running from a half-angry Ayumi. Life goes on, as usual…

* * *

"Let me get this straight…" The bell on top of the door rang, "we're going to completely forget about the narrative while we were playing, to cut to the café scene," Miyako shifted her keyboard grumpily.

"Sounds about right… you recorded it anyway, so it doesn't really matter. They'll get to hear how awesome we were anyway…"

Once we had settled in with our many bags and Ellie's broom, and our drinks arrived. Then, we got a sample of our playing.

My hopes and dreams crashed into the ground at the cacophony that was coming out of the music recorder.

Please tell me it's broken… Hell, tell me we don't sound like Shin-chan at karaoke…

It's horrible!

"Wha-what the hell is that noise!? That's us!?"

"It's just mayhem!" Ayumi mirrored me, both in tone and image.

"I guess you really can't tell when you're playing…" Damn straight! Considering how I felt while playing, we could've been the next Beatles, but this… It's just horrible.

Ellie put the recorder by her ear.

"What is it?"

"The sound of my instrument isn't here!"

"Ellie, did you connect the shielded cord properly?"

"Seal?" She pulled her bass out, "there's a seal on here somewhere?"

Aah, Ellie… ignorance is bliss… who knows, she could even be good… I doubt it though, considering she missed the fact that her guitar needed to be plugged into the amp.

"God, this is just depressing," Ayumi took a sip of her juice, "can we please talk about something else and turn off that thing?"

"Please," I agreed. Ayumi turned it off. The conversation didn't go back there.

* * *

It took a couple of days for it to sink into my head… bands are bloody difficult! They gobble up your cash like nobodies business (though I also blame our constant snack attacks for that), it's a pain having to decide what songs we want to play because everyone has different tastes (Ellie's taste is the most painful to listen to, if you ask me), and there's not a drummer in sight.

The worst thing, however, is that we can never find a set time to practice. Ayumi and Miyako are always at club in the afternoon, Ellie's schedule is all over the place with her helping her mother in their café, and I'm just demotivated half the time. Practicing alone is all good and well, but there isn't an 'I' in band. We all have to be good to make good music.

"Say," Ellie mentioned during one of our breaks, "how about if we made a light music club?"

"A light music club?"

"Yeah," She nodded excitedly, "an anime I watch at night was using a classroom for practice…"

A classroom, huh? So we can practice when we even have a little amount of time. And if it's a club, I get to be president. Just that was enough to convince me.

"A club… That's a good idea!"

"Yeah, we can practice during recess at school too!" Ayumi agreed.

"All right!" Miyako joined in. Clearly, everyone was on board with this.

With renewed passion, the four of us marched to the faculty room. Kodama was the head of all art clubs, so he was the last barrier separating us and our music.

"Kodoma-sensei," I said confidently, "we want to start a light music club!"

"Unacceptable!" He cut us off from the get go, "What do you mean, a light music club!? School isn't some playground!" I could feel my hands curling into fists. It's no surprise that students hate his guts.

"It's almost time for term tests, so start studying already!" he tapped his timetable, "There are tons of you trying to make clubs from some short lived idea! I can't recognize something like the 'Card-battling club' or the 'voice actor studies club'!"

"Don't bundle us with those phonies! Our passion for our band aint some joke!" I retorted back. We were dead serious about this. He sighed, not turning from his desk.

"Fine… Show me how serious you are," I was a little bemused, but I was ready. If I could prove to my mother that I was passionate about music, this guy will be child's play. He turned around, a scary look on his face

"If you manage to get a hundred points on the English term tests, I'll accept it! If you can't, you're all doing extra credit!" The pointed finger, along with the booming sound waved that almost looked like Kodoma's head repeated over and over again were enough to send all of us running… well, except Miyako… she's pretty brave.

Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope!

It's one thing proving I am getting better. Getting a perfect score is near impossible! If we risk this and fail, we'll spend even less time playing, because we'll have to do extra credit!

* * *

So we continued as before, whenever we could practice, we did. When we were low on allowance, we went to a smaller studio, but it was near impossible to play because of the lack of air conditioning. Then we studied some.

In the course of the one and a half weeks from when we first started practicing together, our allowances have depleted completely, I've gained three pounds from the snacks, and our music is barely inching forward, despite the four or so practices we've managed to squeeze in.

Frankly, this is just a bust…

Why do musicians make it look so easy? Like when Kanon is singing, she looks and sounds like a Goddess... When I play, I sound and sweat like a pig...

Why can't we be as sparkly as Kanon? Both Ellie and Ayumi are amazing people who shine in other ways... It's because we don't put everything into our music.

It was plain depressing that when I got home, I was more likely to start studying than I was to play guitar. One particular afternoon, Chitose came into my room while I was listening to music and making some notes on English punctuation.

"C'mon Nee-chan! It's a nice day out, so let's go to the park!"

"If 'nice day out' means 'as hot as curry in hell', you're right… Can't you see I'm busy here?"

"But you're always in your room… can't we go out and eat ice-cream? You can always study later."

This went on for a good five minutes, but in the end, he won… when we were outside, he passed his soccer ball to me.

"I forgot something…" though when he came back, he was lugging my guitar case.

"What's up with that?"

"You haven't played your guitar in a couple of days, so maybe you can practice here…" I sighed, but there was truth in his words. I haven't touched my guitar since our last practice. It's disheartening to even look at it.

Heck, it's so disheartening that I even stopped considering my guitar as female… now, it's just another reminder on what a failure I am.

"Alright, pass it here…" I threw his grubby ball back and took my guitar. We started walking.

"Though what's up with you recently? You keep shutting yourself into your room, and it's not like I even hear you playing guitar or anything…"

"I do a little thing called studying… you should try it sometimes," he shook his head.

"Please… you procrastinate just as much as me. So you watch TV?"

"Nothing good has been on recently…"

"So you've been chatting with Ayumi-chan then… how's her running going?"

"Will you stop with the questions!?" I snapped, my legs stopping in their tracks, "I've just been busy!"

"With what!?" That accusing tone and hard eyes just made me angry. Why does he even care about that!?

"Why does it matter?" I had intended for that line to sound angry, but I just sounded tired and defeated.

That's what I was… between the lack of motion with our band and with how unproductive studying has been… not to mention, everyone had gotten even busier now, chasing their own dream, that I was just left, watching the dust floating in their wake.

By the way, did I mention I gained three pounds?

"I think it matters if it's gotten you all depressed…" he replied, matter-of-factly, chucking his ball between his hands.

"I'm not depressed," I argued, "It's this damn weather…"

"The weather?"

"Yeah, this heat is horrible," I glanced up at the bright, cloudless sky, "why can't it be raining now?"

Yes, why can't it be raining now!? If the sky would cry for me, I wouldn't be left feeling sorry for myself that I was a failure…

That does sum it up… watching my friends succeed while I fall behind… it's hard to watch, but I knew if I averted my face, I wouldn't be able to see them anymore, which would be even worse.

We had reached a shady bench in the park, so I plopped myself down and leant the guitar case against the side. Somehow, that conversation with Nee-san came back to mind.

"Nee, Chitose," he hmmed, starting to bounce his ball on his head, "do you think rainy days come when the sky is crying for someone?"

"Nope," he continued bouncing, "it rains because of the water cycle and stuff…" I smiled. That answer was very Chitose like.

"Yeah, that's true…" I fell to the side, "I'd feel better if it was raining though…"

"So you want rainy days, huh?" my cheek rubbed against the warm wood of the bench when I nodded, "then why don't you have rainy days forever? That'd make you feel better, right?"

I pushed myself back into a sitting position.

"Yeah, but it's not raining though…"

"Who said it has to be rain," he smiled, "your guitar could be 'Rainy Days' for you…"

Suddenly, I got what he'd been getting at. I quickly pulled out my guitar.

"So you think my guitar should be called 'Rainy Days'?"

"Yeah… then, you'll always have the rain, and you won't have to cry anymore, when your guitar will do it for you…"

"Rainy Days, huh?" I played an A note, and somehow, it sounded different than any other A I'd played before, "I think she likes it too…"

I don't know if it was the name, or how the chords from the guitar were resonating, but the slight lump in my throat disappeared.

We ended up spending a good hour at the park. Chitose had to pull Rainy Days away from me, so I'd play some one-on-one soccer with him. Besides, it's a good time to start losing those three pounds.

"Nee… Chitose?" I asked him as we were headed home. I was still panting and sweating, while he was the picture of coolness, still having the energy to juggle his ball between his feet.

"Hmm…" he didn't break his stride.

"How did you… get… so good?" I coughed. The air was not coming easily to my lungs.

"Practice, I guess…"

Somehow, it just took that one word to crash my hope spot that I'd reached before.

It doesn't matter that she has a name now, or that the music sounds a little different now… It's not going to help us improve…

I don't think we ever will improve.

* * *

We were at school, listening to our most recent practice. Ellie was still hopeful that we were improving, but Ayumi was on the same cynical boat as me.

"You call this better?"

"Just barely," Miyako joined our boat.

"Well, with four girls getting together as a hobby, I guess this is as good as it gets…" I strummed Rainy Days lightly, remembering that conversation with Chitose… Our time to practice together was very limiting…

"Though we've got a pretty big collection of snack toys now… thanks to Meijii's choco-mayu," I snorted… my room is drowning in those. And I still haven't found the secret one yet.

"Sure, if we do eat this many snacks between the four of us…"

Ellie switched on the recorder, playing, once again, what I could only describe as a battle to see who could be more loud and obnoxious with their instrument. Part of me was a little pleased that we were at least getting somewhere…

This was fun… I just didn't get any feeling of accomplishment getting this far, when I know that this may as well be our stand-still point…

I remember playing an instrument was on my bucket list as a kid… but am I actually playing now?

Someone, give me a sign…

The door slid open.

"Umm, excuse me… When do term tests start?"

Just as I glanced up, a breeze came in from the windows, mussing everyone's hair up, including the newest entry into this empty classroom.

She lifted her fringe slightly so none of her pink hair would get in her eyes.

For the first time in a long time, Kanon was at school, and for the first time ever, we were alone with her. By everyone's stunned reaction, it seems like that thought had occurred to them as well.

"Ka-kanon-chan!?"

"She's at school!"

Kanon blushed at the attention.

"I-I do have to take the term tests, at least…"

Then she turned to look at me, I clutched onto Rainy Days' neck, trying to hide behind her. Obviously, that wouldn't happen, because Kanon's eyes zeroed right in on it.

"A guitar!" she stepped forward, now curiously.

Normally, had it been any other classmate, I would have proudly held her up and strummed a chord or two as if I actually knew how to play it, but because it was Kanon-chan, the teen idol, who was younger and a hundred times more talented than me, I wished I just could have left Rainy Days in her cocoon.

What the hell is up with this crappy music that's playing in my head?

Shit, Ellie still has that recorder on! I turned around, relieved to have a reason to not look into Kanon's eager pink eyes.

"Is this a band?" she asked me. I could feel my cheeks heating up.

"Oh, uh… N-no! This isn't anything…" I waved my arm frantically at Ellie to get her to turn off that noise. I started laughing to cover my awkwardness up.

"Having people in the same class playing music too…" she ignored my lame attempts at lying, "it makes me happy…"

It makes her… happy?

To hear us be an embarrassment to music everywhere?

Even still, the look on her face was very sincere and cute. She did appear to be happy seeing me with that guitar…

"It's still a secret, but I'm going to be performing at the Mai-high Festival this fall. If you'd like, please come and listen…"

As I was strangling my guitar, it occurred to me... It's not Rainy Days' fault that I sucked at playing her... I just never strove for any goal, and that's why I wasn't getting better.

It was my fault, but not any more... Me and Rainy Days would be rocking it with everyone at the Mai-high Fest as well.

"Then... Would you listen to our sound too, Kanon-chan?" I tried to loosen my grip, but I was too nervous, "we'll be at the Mai-high Fest too!"

Suddenly, that hesitation disappeared. I knew exactly what I wanted and only once I've proved myself as a musician strong enough to take on an idol, then I will be happy.

We're a band, dammit! Now let's prove that we are one. I flung my free arm out as a challenge.

"We will see you on stage, Kanon-chan!" Kanon smiled sweetly.

"That sounds nice..." her smile contorted into a smirk, "though if it's a challenge, I have the advantage here..."

I smirked as well. While I'd been a bit hysterical before, the idea of a challenge amped me up somehow... It's Kanon-chan we're talking about here... Of course I'd be excited.

"I wouldn't have it any other way... It will be all the more satisfying when we win..." I smirked as well. She laughed.

"I'll look forward to that, umm... Uh..." she paused... Obviously, she didn't remember our names.

"Chihiro, Ayumi, Miyako and Ellie..." I pointed all of us out in turn, "but you're not going to forget that..." she shrugged.

"I might... Unless you have a band name which is easier..." I blanched... I hadn't thought about that at all... all we really have in common is that we're in 2-B together... 2B band was our beta name, so...

"We're the 2B-"

"Pencils!" I heard Ayumi say behind me. That name did spark my interest.

"Yep, that's the one..."

"2B Pencils..." Kanon repeated it in her sweet musical voice, and it really sounded great, "I look forward to hearing your music."

"By the way, our tests begin on Monday," Miyako finally brought the topic back to it's original place.

I plopped back onto my chair while Kanon finished up and left. As I expected, everyone looked to me once she was gone.

"Wha- Chihiro, what are you talking about?"

"Why all of a sudden?"

"Are you serious about playing _that _in public?"

All three of them were right, but I knew what had gotten into me. I didn't really have large dreams regarding our band, but I knew that what I had now wasn't what I wanted at all... Tomoko-chan had been right...

Because I had been taking it to lightly, I was never going to be a serious musician... This is exactly why challenging Kanon-chan had been necessary. We'll be doing this properly now... I'll be doing this properly too... Even if this does cause problems.

"Sure... this might be fun as it is," I hesitated. What if I offend them? But the damage was already done when I challenged Kanon, "but... This isn't the kind of band I wanted us to be!"

I went back to strangling Rainy Days.

I wanna sparkle more, like Kanon-chan!" I stood up, "If we're doin' it, let's do it with heart!"

"Waah, Chihiro-saaan!?" I turned around, where Ellie was watching me, her eyes tearing up. Then she jumped on me.

"I never thought you'd say something so passionately, Chihiro," Ayumi came on the other side, turning this into a group hug which Miyako joined.

"Yeah, let's do this!"

In my head, I took a picture of this. For the first time in ages, I truly felt happy, without any doubts... Even though I was looking in the face of a challenge that was probably harder than anything I'd encountered in my life.

After all, there can't be sunny skies all the time... you'll need to trek through a bit of rain so you can see the rainbow.

And best of all, all these warm arms that enveloped me and Rainy Days were going to be around with me, so I wouldn't be alone...

I'm probably never going to forget this hug for as long as I live.

* * *

**So there you have it... both the band and Chihiro's guitar have a name now.**

**Thank you all for reading, but a special thanks to nobodyreallyimportant (though that name seems super ironic here) for the guitar's name. I hope this chapter did justice enough as to why I chose the name.**

**Anyhoo, I've discovered that I can actually write these chapters on my phone... maybe, instead of playing that mp3 beats game last thing at night, I can rather just continue writing this... God knows, updating may even go faster then.**

**I know this story is going horribly slow, but I do have this story planned out in detail to completion... that is why I have no intention on going on a hiatus or quitting altogether. Until I get it all down in writing though, please bear with me.**

** Peace, guys! I'll see you soon.**


	7. Maybe I'll study

**Hey everyone... after some time...**

**This last month has been hell with projects, so I haven't gotten to write at all. In fact, with exams starting next week, I'm more free than ever.**

**That being said, here's Chapter 7 for real. I hope you like it.**

* * *

"Let's get that 100 percent! We're studying hard from now on!"

_Us four girls, the newly dubbed 2B Pencils, were heading into battle. Proudly… Bravely… We met eyes with our opponents, ready to begin out curb stomp battle…_

_Too bad our enemies were eight foot books which could just KO us by falling forward…_

_We were barely equipped to face them, let alone have a fantastic victory against them._

"But, how the heck are we gonna get 100 percent?" I folded my arms… there's no way we would win against our term finals like how I see it.

"Oh, I know!" my eyes snapped up at Ellie, who had a lightbulb above her head, "I know of someone who might help us!"

"Who?" Me and Ayumi asked.

"Just wait here, I'll go get 'im!" Ellie left without answering. Then, Miyako got up suddenly, a shocked look in her eyes.

"I'm late for cram school!" Miyako muttered, her voice slightly more hysterical than usual, she sent a questioning look this way. I guess she wanted my permission, because we were going to study together.

"Then run…" I shooed her out. She smiled gratefully.

"Sorry about this… I honestly forgot…" she them bowed and ran out.

"_I'll get back-up!" li'l knight Elsie fled from the battle field._

"_I'm sorry, I have another battle now!" li'l knight Miyako ran off too, leaving me and Ayumi to face the line of humongous books._

"_Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"_

_Some curb stomp battle this is… everyone sucks!_

"Well, this was a stupid study session…" Ayumi said in a deadpan tone, her elbow slammed on the table as she leaned down on it.

"Tell me about it!" I sat on the table next to hers, "how the hell are we all going to get a perfect score if half of our members are AWOL?"

"Miyako's smart… I'm sure she won't make a mistake if she tried hard enough… however, Ellie…"

"Yeah, let's just wait for Ellie… then we'll think up some strategies…"

100 percent… so no mistakes… none of us a truly dumb, but that is a real feat for anyone… Even Miyako, who was one of the smartest people I know, only got an 82 in the last test…

"_Retreeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaattttt!" li'l knight Ayumi screamed. I was right behind her, but my brain was whirring, trying to stop those shards of motivation from slipping from my fingers._

_Think, think! I'm smart, dammit!_

"Say, do you think Ellie ran away?" Ayumi asked, snapping me out of my daydream.

My stomach sank a little as I considered that.

"She was the furthest from 100 points…"

For a few moments, we watched the door. My patience wore thin pretty fast, and I threw my pen at the door, as if I was aiming at Ellie.

That seemed to have done the trick, because as soon at the pen hit the floor, the door opened. Ellie came in, her arms against her shoulder like she was dragging a sack in.

For the life of me, I couldn't see the sack.

"Chihiro-saan, Ayumi-saan!" then the muffled voice began, sending a feeling of dread down my spine…

God, if Ellie kidnapped someone, we could get in so much trouble.

I've brought someone… someone who we can rely on in times like this!" She walked in properly with a struggling Katsuragi inexplicable held down on the floor.

Part of me was relieved… at least you can't get in trouble for kidnapping your brother…

_Li'l Ellie brings back a joke character…_

The other part of me was annoyed. I'd been keeping a special lock on my thoughts recently so I didn't think of him, but once again, we'd be in fair proximity and all that progress on trying to get over this crush would go back to square one.

"What the hell is with this situation!?"

Tell me about it, Otamega…

"K-katsuragiii?"

"Why are you here?"

Wait… is this about that relying thing? Why would we need to rely on Otamega?

100 percent… He gets 100 percent for everything…

Oh, God, please don't let it be that…

"Let's have Kami-nii-sama be our tutor!"

Noooo! It's like a romcom scene from a B-grade manga!

_Correction: Li'l knight Ellie brings back a lethal joke character… The fight against the evil books continue, with Li'l Otamega expanding into a fluffy ball. The other li'l knights are not impressed._

Deep breaths… I need to stop blushing before someone figures out what's up…

"I-I don't have to have you teach me!" Ayumi interjected.

"Y-yeah, this is our band's problem."

I had been turning away from everyone, but from what I could hear, the two siblings were having a silent argument.

"Say, do you think he'd actually teach us?" Ayumi whispered.

"Doubt it…" I jumped off the table and got on the chair.

"Like hell I would! Who's going to want to do a task like that!?"

I was a little relieved… Thank the Gods for making Katsuragi a selfish jerk…

"See…"

_Fluffy ball Otamega rolls off…_

For the first time, I looked at Ayumi's face properly. Her cheeks were a light pink and she was frowning.

Wait, what is that?

"Then… Just for an hour…"

_Wait… Fluffy ball Otamega returns… All the other lil' knights scream for him to make up his mind…_

Wait, now what is this? I looked up, and Katsuragi was already by the board, a piece of chalk in his hand.

"In one hour, I'll tell you all the necessary information, with whether you can score 100 percent is up to you."

Then as cool as a cucumber, Katsuragi started writing on the board.

The hell? He can't be that confident about the work. With the speed he's writing at, does he even know what he's writing?

"Wha-why are you all high and mighty!?" Ayumi stood up and flung her arm accusingly.

"Yeah, Otamega!"

You're an Otaku, dammit! Stop acting like a teacher.

Still, our protests did nothing. He continued without pausing

"There..." he flung the chalk now that the board was full of words I could only imagine was English, "Those are the problems for the next term test."

Wait, what?

How do you even read some of those stuff, let alone memorise it and put it on a board?

"If you consider Kodama's personality and the material for the test, that's about it. You remember this and you'll probably get at least a 90."

"No way!" I stoop up so I could get a closer look. It looks like English, but he may have just written in that alphabet so we couldn't read it so we wouldn't be able to notice what was wrong.

"You must be kidding!"

Come on! He has to be shitting us here! No matter who you are, that just isn't possible. Even Kodama doesn't write this fast. And as far as I can tell, the words are actual English too, not gibberish, like I had expected.

"Studying in School is much too inefficient..." He shoved up his gleaming glasses, "If you isolate what is really necessary, there are less test related tasks than the number of galge coming out this month!"

My God, he really is serious... The hell? Is this the knowledge you get from playing all his games? If so, I want in!

Wait, did I really think that?

"Wooow!" I heard from Ellie. This must be the first time Otamega has taught her as well...

_Once Fluffy ball Otamega starts flattening the enemies, the other li'l knights are convinced that he's the man who will lead them to victory…_

Though can I really call him Otamega after a stunt like this? Otakus are usually stupid...

"Now, the points for the other ten percent-"

"Wa-wait!" I scrambled back to my desk so I could write it down. Seemingly, Ayumi had the same reaction.

"Hold on, let me write it down!"

Gah, where's my pen!?

"Ayumi, do you have an extra pen?"

She handed one over, so I started scribbling it in.

"Thank you, Nii-sama! I'll study hard as well!"

as I continued copying from Katsuragi's weirdly neat handwriting, I was starting to feel better. I had no idea how we were going to get that 100 percent, yet somehow, it was within our grasps now. Now, I just needed to understand what I was writing here.

Blind and deaf... Then she gets some operation so she can see and hear again.

A yelp came from the front, surprising me. I jerked back up to notice Kanon had made another stealth entrance, and was less than a foot away from Katsuragi.

"Kanon-chan!?" Ellie alerted Ayumi as well.

Katsuragi fell into the seat next to him, obviously surprised as well.

The breath that I hadn't noticed that I was holding came out.

I turned back to my book, trying to get back to the writing. Still, my body was still disturbed by that previous sight, considering I literally had to wrench the pen out of my fist. Why did she get so close?

Obviously, back to square one... Damn it all to Hell!

Calm down Chihiro, I'm just being stupid.

"Ayumi, what does 'corn-" my voice trailed off at Ayumi's face. She was also watching what was going on ahead with a frown on her face.

Could it be... No way!

"Kanon-chan, do you want to study with us?" Ellie asked politely, seeing she was the closest. That did seem to distract Ayumi from what she'd been thinking about.

Wait, what was I even thinking about?

By this point, Katsuragi had gained his composure and went back to the board, so Kanon sat in his previously occupied seat next to Ellie

"You'll get 100 percent if you study with Nii-sama."

"Really!?" Kanon smiled, pulling out her books.

Still, this feels weird... I haven't seen Kanon in so long and just today, I've seen her twice, and now, we're in the same study session.

Katsuragi is also watching us nervously... What's up with that? It must be coz there's four girls he barely knows.

Alright, so let's get this straight… 3 girls, and idol and an Otamega enter a classroom… then what happens?

Katsuragi banged his fist against the board to stop the talking.

"Let's just finish this… Ayumi… Chihiro… Kanon… Elsie… We'll begin individual tutoring in that order.

"I-individual?" Ayumi asked, her voice shaking. I was with her there. I barely wanted him there, but having to talk one-on-one… I don't want that!

"Yes, I will teach you to your individual understanding. Elsie has already told me your marks, so we'll work from there," he replied obtusely.

You could see the shade change in Ayumi's face.

Needless to say, the classroom shook when Ayumi kicked Katsuragi into the wall. I kept my smirking behind my textbook, so I wouldn't piss Ayumi off as well.

Wow… Katsuragi is dense in the literal sense too. He was barely hurt from that kick.

So individual training began. Ayumi took her stuff to a desk close to the door, but she was so antsy that she didn't sit down. I could only catch the gist of it, but she was trying to prove that her most recent mark had been a choked test and that she was smart. Of her 20 minutes, a good five of them was spent forcing her to sit down.

Wait, if we have 20 minutes each, what time does Elsie have? She's so excited about this studying stuff that she's got two books out… and her pencils are rubbing roughly on the book… should I worry about that or not?

Though how about Kanon?

"Nee, Kanon-cha-" I turned to the left, where Kanon was sitting. Her books were open, but she wasn't writing the text wall into them… rather, she was staring at the person who wrote the wall of text.

She was also staring at him when she came into the classroom…

Is that why this feels weird? No one is acting like they normally would.

In the end, I gave up trying to talk… let's just get this session over with.

I should at least try to read this…

"Luca was a very happy girl. She lived in a large house in the country…"

Wait, that looks familiar. It's in the textbook, I think…

Now that I was looking at the board properly, he had used different coloured chalk to highlight words or answer the questions which hadn't even been asked.

That show off! It was amazing what he knew, but because it's Katsuragi, it just annoys me more.

Kanon still hasn't stopped staring at him… what about her hot celebrity boyfriend?

I couldn't stand it. I grabbed my guitar case and pulled Rainy Days out. She'd definitely calm me down and help me sort through those thoughts.

Clearly, Kanon feels something towards Katsuragi… but when she came in, he got so nervous he fell into a chair. Even now, he's glancing at her uneasily…

She is an idol… Japan would freak if she was dating some normal guy, but the world's biggest nerd? She'd definitely want to hide that…

That has to be it, isn't it?

I did manage to sort that thought out, but now my stomach is in knots and the pick is going into my thumb coz I'm holding it too hard…

"Kanon-chan…" I strangled out. She turned her head back…

Gaah, she's looking at me. My brain wiped itself blank. She looked at me for a moment before speaking.

"Chihiro-san?" I gulped, trying my hardest to think of something. Luckily, I didn't have to, because my phone started ringing. It was Mappy.

I gratefully stood up and went to the balcony.

_Li'l knight Chihiro is distracted… repeat, li'l knight Chihiro is distracted!_

"Hey," I greeted.

"Yo… are you still at school?"

"Yeaahhh….?"

"That's great then… you'll like this one… Shinji was telling me that the soccer club and the basketball club got in a bet, and the losers have to practice in their shorts alone…"

"And…?" but my heart was beating in my throat. If this was going the way it sounded, it would definitely be interesting, "who won?"

"Look outside on the field…" Even though the distance was less than a metre, I still ran to the railings. Sure enough, the soccer boys were shirtless and running laps.

"Holy…" I gawked unashamedly, "bless the basketball boys…"

_Noooooooooooo! Li'l knight Chihiro is a gonner… Her weak point towards guys has been exploited by the enemies._

Mappy laughed on the other side. I put my hand on the railing so I was leaning more comfortably.

"Yeah… I only have a two minute staring limit, but you have fun."

"Oooh, you bet I will!"

And I did… the soccer boys were decent to look at on most days, but now you could actually see the muscles they'd developed, and because they were embarrassed themselves, their faces were an appealing pink as well.

Man, guys look damn good without their shirts!

I'm not a pervert for wanting to wolf whistle, am I?

Ayumi has to see this!

"Oy, Ayu-" I turned around when a flash of maroon hit me on the side. Someone was next to me. And it wasn't someone who would appreciate the view…

"Don't you have some better things to be doing?" Katsuragi gave me a hard look, but his tone was casual.

"Wait, is that Katsuragi!?" The phone by my ear replied in amazement. I was close enough to him that he heard his name, sending a whole new wave of red to my head. He grabbed the phone from my hand and put it to his own head.

"Yes, this is him… Chihiro doesn't have time to gawk at guys right now," after a moment's pause: "Yes, she is busy now… Now come inside and close the damn curtains!"

That last comment was obviously aimed at me, but I was only imagining what Mappy was taking from this conversation, considering that last line.

Somehow, I think I'm more embarrassed that the half-naked athletes outside.

_Big ball Otamega rebuts and saves the day by rolling over li'l knight Chihiro… the distraction is broken, but she is still squashed flat and unhappy…_

He passed the phone back and walked back into the class. From the screen, he hadn't shut the call. I reluctantly put my ear to the screen.

"That's my cue then," I replied brightly, as if I had no clue what was coming. Hopefully, if I can play dumb, I won't have to address that innuendo.

"Sounds like you'll be having even more fun than I expected…" she replied cheekily, "what will you and Katsuragi be doing behind the closed curtains?"

"Studying," I replied shortly, but my ears definitely heated up, "you better take some pictures in my stead…"

"I could say the same… but I don't want to be traumatised for the rest of my life…"

God, I wish the balcony could just fall and take me out of here.

"Bye," I slammed the phone shut and walked inside, closing the door behind me. Ayumi walked in next to me.

"You called me?"

"A bit late for that…" I slumped into the class, my good mood remaining outside.

"What were you doing, Chihiro-san?"

"She was reminding me why girls should not be allowed to play dating sims…" Katsuragi replied. I stood up angrily.

"What does that have to do with girls and your stupid games, idiot!?" He pushed his glasses up annoyingly.

"Simple… you are the perfect example of how girls react to handsome men. It's people like you who destroy the integrity of games, and give Otakus a bad name!" He pointed his finger at me. I shrugged.

"Say what you want… I'm not an Otaku, so I can't even give you a bad name… plus, you guys do a good enough job with all that hentai stuff…" I walked with my arms behind my head, internally laughing at the shocked look on his face. When I was about to sit, he coughed and indicated to a seat by the door.

I sighed but complied, grabbing my books and Rainy Days with me.

Laame! Going from hot guys to books… but I do want that 100 percent… can't I have the best of both?

"If I'm gonna get taught, I'd rather get some stud to teach me…" I sulked, looking towards the window towards the promised land (Otamega didn't close it, which was lucky).

"Hey, it's not like I wanted to teach you…" he sounded just as disgruntled as I felt. Still, I was grateful he changed his mind… the notes on the board are pure gold.

Then I caught sight of Kanon again, her eyes on her book. When I looked away, her pink eyes glanced our way again.

Seriously, are they going out or something? This was bothering me way too much!

"By the way, Katsuragi…" I whispered to him, "do you know Kanon-chan or something? She's been…" my eyes and my sentence kind of trailed off as my eyes drifted towards her again, "looking at you the whole time."

He looked away awkwardly…

"I don't really know her. It must be your imagination…"

I glanced between the two of them, noting the many differences between the two of them.

Kanon is so cute… why the hell would anyone of her calibre go for Otamega!?

He has to be right…it's just coz I like him that I suspect everyone is after him…

"Y-yeah, no kidding!" I rubbed my head, trying calm my nerves, "Like there'd be any connection between an Idol and Otamega!"

That dirty look he sent at me just made me laugh more, though mostly out of nerves. I pulled out Rainy Days and made myself at home in my seat.

"Aaah, so stupiiiid!" I ran my hands over the strings noisily.

And it really was… this whole surprise recruitment Ellie pulled, the whole thing with Kanon-chan as well… what's the point?

Who needs this 100 percent? Let's just play at the studio!

"Study!"

"No can do," I crossed my legs over the desk and moved my guitar so it was more comfortable, "this is so boring…"

Yeah, this was much better… and an F, and another F, and an A Major and a-

Then the guitar got snatched from my lap by an angry Katsuragi.

"Hey!"

"This is confiscated till the end of the study period…" he put it down by the teacher's podium, "you're disturbing everyone else…"

I turned around (though more like rolled around, coz my legs were still on the table) and sure enough, all three of the girls were looking at me.

I guess, even if I wasn't taking this seriously, they definitely were… Ellie even made a hair band…

I sighed and sat down like a normal person. I didn't want to be the one person who screwed us over on getting our club room… I was going to be the president, dammit!

"Alright…" I picked up my book and pencil case, which had dropped at some point, "I'll take this seriously…"

"Thank you," he looked at the clock, "you still have ten more minutes of individual time, so ask anything you need…"

I opened my doodle ridden book, where the English words were just swirling in my head. I swear I could read it before… why is it making no sense now? Is it coz my motivation level hit zero?

"Why are classes so difficult?" I whined. A hand slammed on my desk by my falling head, causing my head to jerk up.

"You want this 100 percent, don't you!?" he asked in a hard voice. I just put my head back down, too tired to care.

"I want my clubroom…" I yawned.

"Well, tough then…" he picked up his arm from my desk and walked to the front, "you're not going to get what you want like that…"

I sat up when I heard him cleaning the board. Thank God I'd copied all that stuff already.

"This is a message to all four of you…" he tapped his chalk on the board next to his new message, "you only get what you want when you try for it… You have to be willing to do whatever you need to succeed, alright!?"

Is it just me or does he look kind of cool? I could feel my stomach bubbling with some kind of warm acid, but it wasn't unpleasant…

"Succeed, eh?" my hand fell to my stomach. What the hell is up with that?

"Yes, do whatever you need to succeed!" he chucked the chalk neatly into the chalk sill.

Success here would be us getting our club room… the club room isn't a necessity, but having it would be amazing. We'd save so much cash, and we can go whenever we have free time…

Club room club room… club room…

"Who thinks we should go steal someone's keys and get ourselves a club room?" I asked behind me.

"I'm in," Ayumi stood up. I nodded and stood up as well.

"That's not the point!" Katsuragi yelled, "Now go back and study!"

Still… Otamega's motivational talk worked… as I read over the notes, they were making more and more sense. Still, that one word I had wanted to ask about before still wasn't clear.

"Otamega," he walked to my desk, " what's a… 'corn…eh…aa'?" I pointed at the word.

"'Cornea'…" he corrected, before repeating it in Japanese, "it's a part of your eyes…"

I'd definitely heard the word before, but what part of the eye is it?

"Yeah, I got that from the Japanese, now… though what part is it?" He hesitated, "if you don't know, I'll go check it on the net."

"I do know what it is," he said impatiently, but I already had my phone out. He pushed the clam shut.

Then I realised how close his head was.

"Wha-what!?" I pushed my chair back, but I nearly dropped the phone in my hand. He used his fingers to open his right eye wider.

"The cornea is the layer in front, here!" He indicated towards the eyeball. I just pushed myself further back and willed myself not to stare.

"What, the coloured part!?" I kept my eyes firmly on the textbook, but I could feel the heat rush up to my face.

"No, it's in front of the coloured part… it's to protect your eyeball," I looked up, where he was still pointing at his bright brown iris.

"Alright, alright, I got it!" I pushed him off with my book, "you can go now…"

He breathed sharply (probably in annoyance), before getting up and continuing his rounds, pacing around the front.

My individual lesson ended at this point, so I sighed in relief and went back to my old seat, the thought of Katsuragi's face less than a foot away from mines still ingrained in my head.

Clearly, I still have problems… I only had that daydream once, but it still affects me way too much.

"Though I still like the idea of stealing a room," Ayumi whispered behind her book.

"Uh, um… have we met somewhere before?" I heard from the seat in front of me. I slipped on my elbow.

What, so that hadn't been in my head!?

And why does 'met' sound so much different than actually meeting? I turned myself around in my seat, willing the embarrassment and annoyance to stop showing on my face.

The silence was way too loud in my ears.

"You haven't met her before, have you, Nii-sama!?" Ellie broke the awkward silence, "I've always been with him, but he's never really met anyone… He's usually playing games…"

I was a bit relieved by Ellie's words, which were thawing out the tense atmosphere. My eyes started drifting to the front, where Ellie was at the front table.

"Maybe you're mistaking him with somebody else?"

"Mistaking with…" Kanon repeated. Ellie had to think…

"Y-yeah, it must all be some mistake…" she poked her head, "all the meeting and talking… and kissing!"

And just like that, the room froze and my body temperature rose up five degrees… I must've started a damn low pressure system in the room.

That's it, I hate you all!

It was just a dream… or a day dream… or something! Stop making me think about it right in front of the guy it's about!

I tried… I honestly tried to look at my books, but my heart kept beating like a drum in my brains and that last comment had sobered everyone into an awkward silence, so just the atmosphere here was horrible.

"Wah… Aaaah! Nii-samaaa!" Ellie interrupted the silence again, this time jumping behind her brother. Her desk was on fire… I turned back to my table.

Wait, what!? I looked up properly, and Ellie's desk was ablaze. What the Hell?

"It's burning!" Ayumi stood up.

"Elsie, what the Hell did you do!?"

"Uhuuu, I was studying… then I moved the pencil too fast and the friction…" Ellie wiped her tearing up eyes.

"Are you stupid!?" He shouted back. Are you two stupid!? There's a friggin' fire here, so stop fighting!

"Water! Get some wateerrr!" Ayumi caught the urgency, coz she ran outside.

"Ayumi, there's a fire extinguisher by the stairs!" I yelled behind her back. Sure enough, she handed me the extinguisher a few seconds later.

"I don't know how to use this!" I pushed it back.

"Neither do I," she pushed it right back.

"Don't they have instructions on it?" Kanon interjected. We both looked at each other and ducked down.

Funnily enough, Ellie was the one who doused the fire. I guess her obsession with firetrucks really does come in handy for firefighting.

"I'm just glad that isn't my guitar," I remarked at the smouldering ruins that was tables and books before. Ayumi and Kanon nodded.

"You know, if this band thing doesn't work out, we could always become firefighters…" Ayumi added. That idea definitely intrigued Ellie, who brought out a book from the middle of nowhere to start drawing a well detailed fire engine.

"Oooh, that looks great! Now draw something else, Ellie!" Katsuragi put his foot down there.

"Get studying!" he said threateningly.

So we complied… the last ten or so minutes were spent studying, but unlike before, no one was really awkward… except Kanon… I did not expect her to be this naturally shy.

"Nii-sama, what's a corn-eh-aa?" So the he attempted to draw it… we all died of laughter then.

Well, not died… but Katsuragi was not happy when he left us. As soon as he left, I made a beeline to the balcony, but they were gone.

Damn!

When I got home, I took my reward for that long study session by turning off my brain and just falling on the bed, face first.

Considering that was only an hour, it truly felt like two weeks or something… like who gets to stalk some hot guys in shorts and extinguish a fire within an hour?

Hot guys in shorts, huh? It was a pity I missed it… though if I was to say honestly, spending the hour with Katsuragi was worth missing it… It was kinda fun, in a bit of a self-torturing way.

What if Katsuragi had been the one in shorts? I felt both embarrassed and amused at that image, but the first one was definitely the dominant feeling. It must be thanks to Mappy's messed up thoughts…

Nononononononononononononononononononono! Don't think about that, Chihiro!

I wonder if I'm just the real perve here…

* * *

I couldn't get any studying done after that! My brain sucks and desk drawer is a damn mess! So I put all my books on my bed and toppled the entire desk on the ground noisily.

Pencils and nail polish bottles rolled all over my carpet… I quickly scooped them to the side and started sorting through everything else.

Chord notes… a spare pick… a math past paper… empty chocolate wrapper… No wonder it's a mess.

When everything was categorised into objects, I started reading through the papers to see which ones I could chuck and which ones I needed to file.

Factorisation… I wrote those already… chuck!

Trig… not that I get it, but chuck!

Adjectives… easy shit… chuck!

_To Katsuragi…_

My skim reading faltered as I continued.

"_You're a weirdo… that's all I can say…"_

I smiled… that sounds like me. Though when did I even write this?

"_I've only known you for a little time, of which I've spent most of it trying to get my inner voice to shut up. The truth is, it's a futile battle, because my heart decided ages ago... And I kind of hate that..."_

Wait, this isn't what I think it is?

"_You're annoying and a jerk. You sit all day ignoring the world with your games, yet for some reason, I just wish you'd pay a little attention to me."_

I scrunched the paper hard in my fist; the blush that I had finally controlled was right back of my face.

I wanna kill that guy!

Still, I smoothed the note and put it to the side… If I remember, it gets even more embarrassing after that, but I couldn't get the nerve to throw it away. Considering all the wrinkles that were definitely there before I brutalised it now, I don't think it deserved the bin yet.

But I don't want to look at it again! I flicked it under the bed where it hit something with a metallic sound.

Wait, is there something under my bed? From the silhouette, it seemed so… So like me, I left my still messy desk to pull whatever was there.

"Chihiro's Memory Box," I read off the label with some difficulty, considering the crappy writing. I shook it to see if there was anything there. There was…

"Lessee lessee…"

Let's face it… when our past is in front of us, we have to play with it. That is exactly what I did… after playing with whatever I could, I started paying attention to the other stuff… like the torn letter that was in little bits on the floor of the box.

I should reconstruct it… I bet it'll be interesting…

"Chihiro, what is this?" I jumped, and the scrap of paper fell out of my hand. Oka-san was watching me disapprovingly from the door.

"I… I was cleaning my room…" except now, the room looked even more like a typhoon went through it… I sighed.

"I want this cleaned before you go to sleep…" she shut the door as she left me in my pigsty.

God, this seriously happen at least once during term tests studies… I stood up and looked at my mostly empty desk drawer. I'd gone most of the way in sorting this stuff, so may as well finish…

In the end, I just threw the love letter in my box, as well as the toys I'd pulled from there and my ten year old diary, which was also in my desk drawer. However, by the end of cleaning, I had a pair of scissors that definitely didn't belong to me. I probably stole them off Ayumi.

I chucked them into my bag and admired my handiwork.

Eh, I did a good job… Lemme sleep now.

* * *

"Why did you let me sleep?" I whined to Ayumi the next day at lunch, where I was trying to make up on lost time by studying frantically.

"In my defence, when I called, you answered the phone…"

"And what did I even say to you?" I scoffed. I was out the whole night… there's no way I could have answered the phone.

"Something about unicorns… and trees…" I sighed. I guess I better accept that I do talk in my sleep… I wonder if it's stress related or something…

"Somehow, I can see me speaking about that…" I slumped on my arm, "I was reading my bucket list yesterday…"

"Is that so? Miyako interjected behind me.

"Yeah… both getting a unicorn and climbing this tree was in it…"

"Even still, your sleep talking is getting oddly specific, isn't it?"

"I can't help it… my sleep cycle has gone to hell, and exams are still stressing me. Only when things aren't normal, I sleep talk."

"Well, if it's just exams, they'll be done next week…" Ellie added.

Well, that's good, at least… and after term tests, there's holidays… and having to find a job…

"Say, do you guys know any place I could work?" I propped myself up. Work will be hellish enough, but if I made plans before, it would be less stressful, I think.

"Eeeeh, Chihiro's working?" Miyako smirked, "I can't wait to see that…"

"Chihiro knows how to work?" Ayumi added on in a mock-surprised tone. She was too far to

"I'm sure Chihiro will be great at her job," Ellie said.

"This is why Ellie is my favourite!" I pouted and folded my arms. Obviously, they were joking, but I played along.

Still, I got a positive answer at least… Miyako would check if there was any need for a delivery person over the holidays…

* * *

In the end though, despite my usual procrastinating self, I got work done… I was also grateful for the self-study classes we were having in preparation for the tests. I made good use of them.

"Feel free to ask me if you have any questions," Takahashi-sensei said during our last maths lesson before term tests. It was self-study now, because he was a lazy ass… In any case, he is useless to ask questions to, because he usually reads from the textbook.

However, I wasn't concerned… I had my own secret weapon to help me with these tests.

"Katsuragi," I hissed. He put his hand back, almost automatically. I put a note in his hand.

I could feel that little bubble of happiness rise again. Since Katsuragi had helped us study for English, during self-study, I'd sometimes pass him notes asking about sections I didn't get. He'd sigh every time, but still give a detailed answer.

I guess under that rude and game obsessed façade was a reluctantly kind and ridiculously smart guy… It worked for me.

I watched him from the corner of my eye while he scribbled on the note without stopping. The note was back on my desk within five minutes of me giving it to him.

'The cos graph is what the sin graph would look like if it was shifted 90 degrees to the left, which is why sin(x+90)=cos(x). Tan(x)=sin(x)/cos(x), so whenever cos(x)=0, you'd get an asymptote. Here's what the graphs look like…'

Under that were the basic trig graphs with the turning points and intersection points labelled… He always puts way more information than needed, but it's the stuff I could actually use.

'Considering Takahashi, he'll most likely have you draw those graphs, rather than have you derive the equations, so you better learn those.

I've helped plenty now… stop playing that card and go ask Takahashi…'

I grabbed a pencil and scribbled back.

'You said that yesterday too, yet you always answer whatever I asked… It's almost like you like me…'

I then grabbed an eraser and rubbed that last part out.

I don't get it… If he didn't want to answer, why did he? It's not like we're really friends, so he'd be obligated to reply. If anything, these last two days of note passing solidified my own feelings.

It's annoying! If you don't want to be nice, stop being nice so I won't like you, Dweeb!

In the end, I just put the note in my pocket and kept my mouth shut. It was disheartening that he'd never like me back, so I should really just get over it.

Crushes are stupid anyway…

I worked harder than usual so my brain would be preoccupied.

* * *

"Now guys, this is where our battle begins…" I brought the girls for a little pep talk fifteen minutes before the English Test began. They nodded.

"Our Club room is riding on this, so we trained hard for this…" they nodded again, "So now, we are gonna kick this test's ass!" I punched the air

"Let's do it!" Miyako and Ellie punched a fist to join me, but Ayumi was laughing too hard to join.

_The 2B Pencils walked into battle again, the swords shaking in their chibi hands as the English Books looked down threateningly. Li'l Chihiro gulped and tightened the grip on her sword._

'_Let's see you take on Question 1…' The book in question approached her… After a few moments of hesitation, she tore him down to shreds…_

_Li'l Chihiro gained confidence and continued to demolish the questions as they came. However, Question 7 was a tough one…_

"Luca losing his eyesight when he started dating Cruella can also refer to a certain idiom, which one is it?"

This question needed further English than what was in the passage… I only know a couple of English idioms… which one is it?

'_Let go of me!' Li'l Chihiro flailed her legs as Question 7 lifted her by her helmet. A fluffy sheeplike ball watched through shining glasses, 'Help me!'_

Come on, think, Chihiro… blind people can't see…

'When you can't see, then what?' I heard a voice unlike mine in my head.

_Li'l Chihiro stopped flailing when it occurred to her that the ball looked way too light to fight any of the books._

_However, the sheep ball threw a bucket of water over its head, to the alarm of everyone._

_He was sopping wet, so when he jumped on Li'l Chihiro's head, she fell easily._

'_Geddoff geddoff! I can't see!'_

"She pulled the wool over his eyes," I whispered, my eyes snapping open from that little daydream. That was the answer I wanted.

_The Fluff ball Katsuragi nodded before throwing himself at the enemies… Now that he was wet, all the books were weak to him. That gave an idea to the still dripping wet knight._

'_Get a hose, Li'l Ayumi!'_

_This test was history… _

I walked out of the test, helluva pleased at myself. I think I got the hundred I need. I was in such a good mood I even fell in step with Katsuragi.

Thanks, Sheep," I nudged him. He stepped away.

"Isn't Cockroach enough for a nickname?" he frowned. I laughed.

"Sheep sounds better, doesn't it?" he was about to answer when I noticed someone was watching us… a certain someone who'd probably mess with me if she saw this… I wrapped this conversation up, "Later, Otamega…"

I tried to fall back, but Mappy was waiting for me outside class, a smirk on her face.

However, I did have some dirt on her from last week… I would tease her right back.

"You two really have had a good mood recently… you sure you're not dating without telling me?" she fell in step with me as we were leaving. I only replied once we were out of earshot with most of the class, which was by the shoe lockers.

"Things haven't changed since before, thanks for asking…" I hid my smirk, "however, I've noticed you and Shinji-kun are getting along even better…"

"What makes you think that?" she asked curiously, shutting her locker door.

"Don't pretend you guys don't have embarrassing Pet names for each other…" her eyebrow lifted up.

"We don't… we just call each other by our first names…" I nodded… it was a likely story.

"I'm not falling for that… you're just pretending so I don't ask about that…"

"I really don't know what you're talking about," I looked her properly in the eyes, and there wasn't a hint of a lie there… She really didn't know what I was talking about… "What nickname are you talking about?"

I had definitely heard it when Shinji-kun had been on the phone… he called someone 'Babe'…

At the time, I was certain it was Mappy, but what if it was someone else…

"What are you referring to, Chihiro?" her voice was serious. I knew I couldn't keep the tone like this.

"Wanna hear a secret?" She nodded, so I held out a hand, "100 yen!"

She groaned but paid up… I pocketed the coin.

"I made up that whole nickname thing… I just wanted to divert the conversation from Otamega…"

"Don't scare me like that!" she held her shirt, "with the look on your face, I thought it was serious…"

I laughed evilly.

"It was all part of the plan…"

"So now back to the conversation…" my hammy laughter fell, "what's the deal with you and Katsuragi recently?"

"You're buying lunch today…" I sighed in defeat.

"I just gave you 100 yens… use that…"

"No, compared to what you're getting from me, it's worth at least 300 yen… now buy me food."

"This better be good…"

I half smiled… This last week, despite the mental jet coaster ride, was actually pretty fun.

After this, I'll go get my answers from that Shinji bastard.

* * *

**Yay, you reached the end! Otsukaresama!**

**Anyway, this chapter actually covered quite a lot, and some new plots have been introduced subtly, and some not as subtly, Also, you get a first taste of what Chihiro wrote in her love letter.**

**Don't worry, you'll hear the rest in good time.**

**As the last author's note said, I do have that mini tumblr blog where I post drawings and do OC intros. However, I haven't updated recently because there's so much which need to get done. That should change soon.**

**However, as the Author's note didn't specify, because the url messed up, it's called Those Days in Between. I have no clue how to get around the word banning, but I'll try sharing it on my profile.**


	8. Maybe I should stop talking so much

**Alright, I truly apologize for this being so late... like three months late...**

**You know when you have too much going on with a chapter... this was exactly what happened, and I'd get writer's block almost every time I'd start writing. In the end, something just clicked today, about five hours ago, and I just wrote and wrote and got this monstrosity.**

**This is a pretty long chapter, but because a lot of mini story lines were coming in, it might be a bit hard to read, so I apologize as well. From next chapter, I'll focus on one line at the time, so just hold on till then.**

* * *

I was polite… I waited till the end of the day to approach Shinji about that whole thing. Because I didn't know which classroom he was in and club activities were suspended for the term tests, I found out where Shinji's shoe locker was and waited for him there.

"Chihiro-chan, how rare to see you here…" he greeted as he opened the door. I was as cool as a cucumber, leaning on the side. He was pretty chilled himself… the nerve of this guy, when he's cheating on my friend.

"Rare to see you too, bud," I replied coldly, "I have a little business with you is all."

"Is it quick? I kinda need to get home and start studying for History?"

Irrespective to his cool and calm shoe-wearing, I had to hurry to keep up with his steps… he really was in a hurry.

"Just tell me who you're cheating with, and I'll tell Mappy…" he stopped, which caused me to nearly trip when I stopped. Damn his long, coordinated legs!

"Cheating? Who's cheating?" his eyebrows met in between his eyes in what seemed like genuine confusion. I wasn't convinced though… he could just be a good liar.

"You, obviously," his furrowed eyebrows lifted.

"Why would you think that?" his head cocked lightly towards the left, which was kind of cute. That just made me more annoyed, because he was trying to sweet talk me.

"Oh, you know… the cryptic remarks on love triangles… the having to answer an urgent phone call…" his face didn't change, "you calling the person on your phone 'Babe' when you and Mappy don't use nick-names…'

"Ooooohh!" realization crossed his face.

"Don't 'Oooohh' me!" I kicked his shin, but he managed to dodge it elegantly, "explain what the hell that was, or you can explain it to Mappy!" I tried again, but his basketball skills made him way too agile… Son of a bitch!

"There's a perfectly good explanation, so please calm down," he grabbed the fist I threw at him, "I am not cheating on Hiroko."

"Then who the Hell would you call 'Babe' other than a girlfriend?" I spat. He laughed and let go of my hand before putting his own two hands behind his head and walking backwards.

"Maybe someone who has that as their name?" I rolled my eyes and followed him.

"That has to be a nickname… what the hell kind of parent would name their kid that?"

"'Parents who want to get their kids bullied forever'… according to him, anyway…" I stopped again.

"So Babe is a boy?"

"Yep… he doesn't go by his first name at school…"

By this point, I was still heavily skeptical, but I couldn't see a hint of a lie on his face.

"Why do you call him by his first name then?" I started following him a bit closer so I wouldn't lose sight of his face.

"He's embarrassed of his name? Why the hell not!?" He then started laughing at what I could only imagine was an inside joke… that or that he loves tormenting his friend. He suddenly stopped.

"Gimme your phone for a sec?" my eyebrow went up suspiciously, but there didn't seem to be an ounce of evil intent in his eyes. I reluctantly handed it over, and he brought out his own phone as well.

After a bit of fiddling, he handed my open phone back, a new contact open… Babe…

"You can call him if you don't believe me… in any case, I'm gonna be off… Hafta study…" He left then, me just gaping behind him, staring at my phone screen.

I dunno… should I call this number? I hate calling strangers though, because it's just awkward… I did kind of believe him though… that story was a bit elaborate to have been made on the spot… not to mention, he gave a number to call…

In the end, I dialed it, but I could hear my heart hammering against my eardrums… phone calls really did make me nervous.

Ring…

"Hi," I stopped walking… Whoever was on the side was definitely a girl. My face contorted in anger at being lied at.

"Who is this?" all nervousness was gone from my voice.

"Charlotte… who is this?" my fingers squeezed themselves into fists.

"It seems that I have the wrong number," I said through gritted teeth… someone was going to get it now. I quickly ended the call and shoved my phone into my skirt. I ran in the direction I'd seen Shinji go, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. I pulled out my phone again and I dialed his sorry ass.

"He-"

"WHAT THE HELL, BASTARD! THAT WAS A GIRL'S NUMBER YOU GAVE ME! TELL ME WHE-"

"What… that's definitely a guy!"

"Named Charlotte?!" then I heard laughter, "WHY THE F-"

"That's his sister… she always steals his phone when he's at home…" I was about to interrupt, but he continued, "Their parents have some weird naming sense…"

Somehow, that makes sense… Babe… Charlotte… both are English names… probably…

"I swear to God, I would never hurt Hiroko by cheating on her… please stop accusing me…" that hurt edge on his voice was enough to convince me… as weird as that is, he probably isn't lying about the person whose number he gave me. I cut the call after a short apology.

In the end, I still needed that confirmation, so I called this Babe person's number again while I walked back to school.

"Hi," that girl greeted again chirpily.

"Hi again…" I sighed, "I didn't have the wrong number after all…"

"Alright… you're looking for Nii-nii, aren't you?" I felt a bit ashamed at how I'd blown up about this… this was a guy's number after all, "Sorry, but Nii-nii forgot his phone at home today."

"It's alright; I don't need to talk with him…"

"Let me take a message for him…"

"Wait, you don't have to…" considering the rustling on her side, I wasn't sure if she heard.

"Name?"

"You don't have to take a message…"

"Sorry, what was your name again?" the exasperation started making my heart rate quicken again.

"Thanks… bye," I cut the call abruptly.

The truth is, talking on a phone is my least favourite way of communicating, at least when it's not with friends… I tend to panic if I can't understand the person on the other side, and guys generally are harder to understand over the phone, because their voices are deep. Technically, having this Babe guy's little sister reply actually did me a huge favour.

Let's go do something else then…

* * *

The two other days of tests went surprisingly well… I don't know… Katsuragi's whole explanation of teacher's personalities reflecting in their set exams actually helped me prepare better than how I usually do… I was pretty impressed at myself.

"So what do you think it'll be like once we get our clubroom?" I asked Ayumi, Miyako and Elsie after we had gotten our English term marks back. We didn't all get the hundred, but Kodama was in a creepily good mood, so he let it slide and just gave it to us… it wasn't like it was such a difficult task to give us the key anyway…

"Here's how I see it…" Ayumi swallowed her sandwich before lifted up her finger.

_The girls were jamming, and of course, Ayumi was centre stage. As they were rocking it, various people trailed in, hearing Ayumi's sweet voice and without disturbing the performance, they sat in the back to watch._

'_Thank you!' Ayumi shouted over the cheering crowd demanding an encore. However, a certain face stood out… Ayumi did the encore, but only for him._

'_That was great, Takahara," he congratulated her once the room was empty and the two of them were alone._

'_Thanks… though why so formal… call me by my first name, like you usually do…' she slung her guitar case over her shoulder, her cheeks a warm pink._

'_You're so amazing… I wanted to make sure I deserve it before I call you it again…' she paused._

'_Don't be stupid… you've always been rooting for me… there's no way we aren't that close now.'_

_The boy blushed as well, ruffling the back of his hair._

'_So Ayumi is fine?' he looked at his shoes._

'_This would be fine too,' she replied playfully, skipping in front of him, their faces coming closer…_

"Thank you very much… however, that last bit was unnecessary…" Miyako replied, her deadpan tone killing the mood. I groaned.

"But I wanted to hear who the guy was…" I moaned, poking at Ayumi, "Who does Ayumi have a crush on?"

"No one really…" she pushed me off her, but her face was pink, negating the effectiveness of her casual tone.

"Fiiine," I pouted, "two can play at that game…"

'_Tan takatatan takataaaan!' I closed off the song, the pick dancing off the guitar. Miyako wiped her brow._

'_That sounded great, Chihiro-san!' and excited Ellie whacked the bottom of her guitar._

'_I know…' I ruffled my fringe, 'so do we call it a day?'_

'_I think we'll need to… the fanboys are gonna break the door if we don't let Chihiro out,' Ayumi glanced at the window, where half a dozen guys had their faces pressed against the glass._

'_Ah, the soccer club is out as well,' I sighed, 'they're so damn pushy… Choose me, Chihiro-sama, choose me, Chihiro-sama…' I imitated them, 'like hell I'd choose any of them!'_

'_Why don't you let them down easy?' Miyako asked, putting her keyboard in her carrying case._

'_Please… I have a friggin' fanclub… like I'd want that to go away,' I sighed at Miyako's naiveté before pushing on a pair of sunglasses with my perfectly manicured nails, 'off I go then… anyone else coming?'_

'_We'll wait for the rush to die down,' Ayumi shook her head. I shrugged and opened the door._

'_Chihiro-sama!' they crooned. I looked around and waved, but on the far left, beyond the horde of boys, was a lone figure, which I caught eyes with. I smiled and sent a wave his way._

'_Shall we head off then?' I asked the faceless horde. I walked off as they cheered behind me._

"So whatcha think?"

"I'd say you actually sound quite cynical about the fanboys," Ayumi folded her arms, "they sound like more of a bother," both Miyako and Ellie nodded in unison agreement.

"I don't get what you're going on about… I think fanboys are cool… I'd have my own reverse-harem."

Yeah, what the hell are these guys on? There's no way I'd be cynical about having fans.

"To me, it sounds more like that figure on the side was more interesting to you," Miyako said, and the other two nodded.

"Who was that, your unrequited love?"

"Hardly," I scoffed, "just some guy in the corridor, as far as I can tell…" the weird 'eeeeeehh' faces they were sending me was proof enough they didn't believe me… though I wasn't lying.

"You're not as obsessed about guys as I suspected, Chihiro-san…" Ellie noted. I scoffed.

"Puh-lease… I just made myself a huge fanclub of guys… and I have a book devoted to the hotties of the school… and on the day we were group studying for English, I was ogling the soccer club. I think I'm as guy obsessed as they get."

"You may say that, but you don't really approach guys… and you barely have any guy friends. I doubt you think about them as much as you say you do…"

She had me there… now that she was stacking the evidence against me, I clearly wasn't the same person that I was last year… I'm just busier now.

My phone started ringing, which saved me from having to answer.

"Oh look, I'm sure it's a guy now," I gave a smug smile before glancing at the screen.

Babe

"Totally a guy…" I stood up and strolled out of the classroom, thanking the Gods that my face doesn't change so much, like how those manga characters do. Internally was a completely different story, however. My heart was hammering against my throat and the open phone was shaking slightly in my hand.

"H-hello…" I answered. I couldn't understand the reply.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that Charlotte girl. This was a guy with a super deep voice, like I had been worried about.

"Sorry, what was that again?" more garbled words entered my ear. I just cut of the phone, hoping they wouldn't call back again.

The damn problem with phones is that you can't see their mouth move. I bet I'd be able to understand if he was in front of me.

"That was a fast conversation…" Ayumi commented. I laughed and took another bite of my Omelette-Soba sandwich. I made up some witty sounding excuse.

Then my phone started ringing again. I cursed that I hadn't put it on silence.

"Aren't you going to get it?" I shrugged.

When it started ringing the third time, I dragged Ayumi to come with me to the "bathroom", despite the fact that she was still eating her lunch.

"What's up with that?" she indicated to the still ringing phone.

"Can you please do me a favour and just answer this? I can't understand who's calling!" she laughed. This had been the first time this year I'd asked for this favour, but by no means was this a new thing.

"Fine, do I need any context?" she took the phone from my hand, "Babe?" then she smirked.

"It's not like that…" but her smile didn't falter, "this is a friend of a friend who I had to call for something, and that is his real name…"

"If it was embarrassing nicknames, you should have gone the whole hog and called him Sweetie McCutiekinz…" she then picked up the phone.

"Hi Sweetie McCutiekinz!" she greeted, I quickly grabbed the phone and shut it, but my head felt like it was on fire. Ayumi chuckled… probably at my face.

"I dunno, it kind of felt like you were growing a bit older and sentimental sounding lately… I guess this is why."

"This is not why!" I slammed my foot, "This person really isn't my boyfriend!" I stopped, because all the noise around me had quieted down. I waited till everyone started ignoring me again.

"This is Mappy's boyfriend's friend!" I hissed, "I made that same assumption that he was cheating, and he gave me this number to confirm that that was his name."

"So did you confirm it?"

"No, when I called, I got his sister… however, I'm pretty sure this guy was truthful…"

Ayumi look appropriately abashed for what she'd said. Unluckily, the phone started ringing again.

"So what should I say?" she opened the screen. What should she say?

"Tell him he had a wrong number…" she lifted it up to her ear and accepted the call.

"Hi…"

"Yeah, sorry about that…"

"Yeah, you called a wrong number…" then she cupped her hand over the bottom and pulled it away, "he said you called him first," she whispered.

"Tell him that I had the wrong number!"

"Yeah, I had the wrong number before… I didn't expect a call back…" her expression clouded up.

"You don't need my name… I'm not trying to flirt with you!" I giggled, which made Ayumi turn her glare at me. I stopped, or she might give me my phone back.

"Look, it was an honest mistake… I didn't get that Babe is your name…" My eye narrowed.

"Ixnay ixnay…" I made the hand motion as well.

"Uhh… um… fine… My name is Miyuki… I'm not going to call, so don't call me either!" she cut the call and put the phone in my hand.

"Miyuki?"

"Shut up!" she sighed, "he wanted a name… I doubt he'll bother you anymore…"

"I hope so… I couldn't understand anything he was saying…"

"Though if I were you, I'd just message this guy with a full explanation… that should end the calls…"

I don't know… as Ayumi trailed into the classroom, she looked so tired… I wonder if she finds guys that exhausting.

I'd have to agree with her there… this is annoying…

For the rest of lunch, Miyako and Ellie explained their dreams about our new club… pretty standard fare… Miyako was more realistic… Ellies just ended with her brother acknowledging her… funny that my own fantasy ended in the exact same way.

* * *

That night, when I went to go put my phone on charging, I noticed another missed call from when I was in the bath. It was that Babe guy… I rolled my eyes… did that guy not get the message that he wouldn't need to call. Like, isn't ignoring four or so calls enough to convince someone that you don't plan to talk… or do only girls get that?

In any case, I opened a message so I could just explain everything… hopefully 180 characters would be enough.

"Hi. Pls stop calling. I know i called first, but it was to confirm sumthing, I wont call again, so u stop as well. Thx :)"

Eh, not much of an explanation, but how do you even explain this? 'Hey, I called because I suspected a friend's boyfriend of cheating, coz of your odd name. Because you're a guy, it's safe to say that he was telling the truth and you are, in fact, a friend of his. Thanks and sorry.'

Like hell… this just sounds weird… I kinda wish that I hadn't meddled into this and just told Mappy from the start what I'd heard. At least I wouldn't need to deal with this.

My phone beeped just as I was getting comfortable in my spinning chair.

"Fine, what do you need confirmed? I already have a girlfriend, btw."

The gall of this guy! Does he think I'm trying to ask him out!? Like hell I'd do that to a stranger… except that last time when I lost my head 2 months back… or last year… or maybe even before that…

I guess it makes sense he'd ask that… I'm a strange girl who randomly has his number and greeted him with 'Sweetie McCutiekinz'. Even still, it wasn't even my fault. I'm not a creeper.

No, my hot guy book is not a sign that I'm a creeper either!

I shook my head and started replying.

"When i heard ur name, I thought my friends bf was cheating, but he isn't, coz ur a guy."

"What do you think my name is? And where did you even get my number from?"

"Babe, isn't it? I got it from my friends bf, Akagi. Dnt worry, im not going to share it or anything."

I smiled… I wasn't going to share his weird name either… now, if he'd just stop with the messages.

"You don't know my family name, right?"

I sniggered, thinking of a funny joke.

"U have another name? I thought you were like YUI or Claris or sumthing… so what is it?"

Despite the fact that I was continuing this conversation against my better judgement, I was still watching my screen expectantly… It was a funny joke, so I better get a laugh from that… or maybe I'd get his family name.

"Lol… I do have another name, but if you go to Maijima, I'd rather not say, coz you'll just make fun of me in my face."

I smiled… If I knew, I probably might.

"Fair enough… Its not like you know me either, so whatever. Gud nite :)"

"Well, you did say you were Miyuki… good night, then."

I closed my screen… It was still pretty early, so I just turned on the TV… there wasn't anything new or worthwhile, but I was a little pleased… even though this Babe guy is a stranger, I don't think I've really ever chatted with any guy this late, much less had a conversation…

I wonder if he's cute… not that it matters… I doubt he'll message again.

* * *

We went to our clubroom, room 317, straight after school the next day.

Before we opened the door, I turned around to give everyone a pep talk.

"I hope you guys realize that this is just going to be a classroom, and we're not going to have reams of admirers straight away," they nodded.

"However, this classroom is where we're going to work with every ounce of our blood, sweat and spirit so we can find our dreams…" I turned around and grabbed the door handle, "it all changes now for the 2B Pencils…"

I pulled and walked into the sun-bathed classroom…

"This is a pretty great room," Miyako followed behind.

"Yeah, it's really spacious…"

"So this is our clubroom, Chihiro-san?"

I stood in front of the board and faced the other three girls… my fellow soldiers in this battle.

"Yes… yes this is…"

"So we'll be back later then, Chihiro…" Miyako put down her speakers and keyboard case by the window.

"Yeah, Track and Field will be done by five, so we'll come straight from there…"

And in two minutes flat, the club was cut in half. I wasn't worried though. I'd mentally prepared myself for their T&amp;F. And I had Ellie with me as well. She turned to me eagerly.

"Chihiro-san, maybe we can clean up this class while everyone is busy…"

"Sounds like a plan," I gave Ellie a smile, so she started skipping off outside, toward the cleaning supplies.

It's kinda odd… it's been a while since I've hung out with Ellie alone… probably not since that whole pie debacle.

"Though Ellie, don't you have your own broom?" I asked… I somewhat remember talking about her broom on the first day she transferred here. Instead of lagging behind her, I fell into step with her just as she stopped.

"Oh, wait…" she laughed nervously, "I left it in our classroom…" I laughed and pushed her towards the stairs.

"Go get it then…" she hurried off, though luckily, she didn't need to leave the building. It's convenient that the East building has most of the stuff we'd need.

I ended up returning to our clubroom alone with some cleaning supplies. Seeing that no one was really here to judge, I plopped onto one of the chairs lazily.

I really don't want to have to worry about this, but everyone is always busy… will this club thing work… not to mention, who's got time to do admin stuff? Filling budget lists and writing reports and stuff… this isn't going to be as easy as my head, where I'd just have an instant fanclub of admirers.

Besides, wouldn't someone like Ellie or Ayumi be more suited to having a fanclub? They're way cuter than me.

"Chihiro-saaan, I'm baaack!" Ellie shoved the door open cheerfully. I quickly stood up like I hadn't been a lazy butt.

"That was fast…"

"I know… so shall we begin?"

We pushed the mostly piled desks up to the back, but I was watching Ellie from my peripherals. Despite the fact that she was working, she still had that happy look on her face.

"Ellie, can I ask a question?"

"Sure, Chihiro-san…"

I dunno… Ellie is kind of a mysterious being… like all her weird stuff and the fact that I've never seen her mad or sad… however, I stuck to a pretty normal girly question.

"Do you have someone you like?"

"Nii-sama!" she replied without pausing. I giggled.

"Not like that, Ellie… like who do you like like?"

"Still Nii-sama…" I pushed a bit harder.

"Humans are obligated to love their siblings, but in the end, we would leave them… is there anyone you like so much you wouldn't want to leave them?"

Though a wave of cold ran down my back… Honestly, that kind of like… or love… you probably don't feel that in High School. But I could see Ellie was mulling over in her head.

"I don't want to leave Nii-sama…" she murmured, way more quietly than her usual exuberance. It was a bit disconcerting. Now that we were done pushing, I put both my hands behind my head.

"Though Otamega is always mean to you... You still like him, even then?" Though I really wasn't one to talk here... Ellie grabbed her broom indignantly, probably I upset her.

"Nii-sama is a good person. Usually when he scolds me, he isn't trying to be mean."

"Oh really... So putting you down whenever you make food for him isn't mean?" I replied, remembering that day with the pie. However you think about it, the pie in the face was karma. Ellie gripped her broom.

"But Nii-sama has some good parts too. Like how he helped us study for the term tests-"

"Test..." I corrected, "But that was nice of him... except he didn't help you at all, so you didn't get the 100 points you wanted."

"But neither did Nii-sama!" it took a second for it to sink in, "he only got 99 points..." I rolled my eyes. That was just as good as 100 percent in my books.

"You're a nice person, Ellie," I ruffled her hair, "I'm sure that under those layers of jerk, there is a good heart..." I grabbed my own broom and started working, "though don't you worry. I'm sure you can be with your Nii-sama forever..."

Yeah, coz I doubt he'll find anyone to marry him. I kept my mouth shut though.

It was weird... I noted while watching Ellie's cleaning figure... Those two are nothing alike. They obviously aren't twins, considering that they have different birthdays... Not to mention, she joined our class almost three weeks into the school year.

"Ellie, how are you and Otamega in the same class?" she did refer to him as older, so maybe their parents decided to put them in the same year even if they have a year's age difference...

"Me and Nii-sama share the same dad... I only met Okaa-sama and Nii-sama this year..."

"Ohh…"

That's kinda interesting… I had no clue they were only half siblings… It must've been an interesting first meeting for them both.

"You must've been pretty surprised… to find out you had an older brother…" she shrugged and continued sweeping. It was pretty amazing what her broom was doing to the grimy floor… it was like all the dust disappeared whenever the broom went over it.

I looked down at the pile of dust I'd made with the school's broom.

"Do you have a vacuum cleaner in there, Ellie?" I pointed at the broom. That was the only reason there'd be no dust. She smiled slightly, as if she was hiding something, "can I try with your broom?"

As I was coming closer to said broom, she started backing away, which only made my urge to approach stronger…

"But you might not know the controls… I don't want you to break it…"

"But I'm smart… I even got a hundred percent in English… Now c'mon, lemme try…"

* * *

Forty five minutes, and six failed attempts later, the classroom was clean and I was looking at our huge board, wondering what I could possibly draw… This is the first time I've had the whole board to myself, and I had every intention of drawing something cool.

Maybe a huge guitar? Or a bunch of pencils?

"Chihiro-san, what will we do about our drummer?"

"We'll cross that hurdle when we get there…" I drew a line for the guitar neck, but it didn't seem straight enough… geh!

"Maybe I could ask Nii-sama…" my throat jumped uncomfortably… anything but that, Ellie!

"That guy can barely draw… what makes you think he can drum?" I remarked, but it was all the more ironic, because I had considered that… and putting him into a skirt… and hair clips…

"Instead of worrying about that now, let's draw something…" I wiped the smile off my face along with that line on the board, before handing Ellie a chalk bit.

"So we're the 2B Pencils, right?"

"Yeah…"

She took her chalk and started writing it out in bubble font. It was cute, so I decided to help with the colouring. Once I was done, I realised Ellie was admiring something else she'd written.

"We're recruiting a drummer… Nice, Ellie!" talk about shooting two birds with one stone. I closed off the whole message with a cloud, and Ellie drew in some bubble stars, which really finished the look.

We stepped back to admire the room. Of course, the door opened then, revealing our other two bandmates.

"This room cleans up good…" Ayumi whistled.

"So are we gonna begin now?" Miyako walked past us to her already set up keyboard.

"Eeh, can't we snack first? I'm still tired…"

That's what we did… amazingly enough, we found the one secret freebie in our stock. I'm pretty sure that's Fate telling us that we will succeed today…

Or maybe that we have succeeded…

Despite the odds, Mai High's Light Music club, the 2B Pencils are finally in business…

"That still sucked, huh?" Ayumi laughed as we locked up our instruments in the cupboard… well, they did… I would never leave Rainy Days here.

"Yeah," Miyako replied, "we sucked last time, so it makes sense…"

"Though I was hoping something would have changed," I groaned… I mean, we'd already overcome our tests… we'd found our lucky freebie… what else would we need?

If this had been an anime, we'd probably be so good we could have sung an OVA ending theme. But I guess reality ensues and we'll have to keep working at it…

Though this just makes me wonder… we still don't have any vocalist yet (coz rigging a raffle box is apparently illegal now)… not to mention, we haven't decided on a club president yet…

"One last thing…" everyone paused before the door, "who's going to be president?" all three of them pointed at me. I was surprised… I had mentioned that I wanted it, but I didn't expect the decision to be unanimous.

"Alright…" I felt my cheeks heating up slightly, "so who's going to do vocals?"

Please let me be unanimously voted in, please let me be unanimously voted in… I wished in my head.

Everyone looked at each other nervously… Miyako was the one to break the lull.

"You see… in a band, it's not just singing… you have to be able to sing to an audience too… loudly and clearly."

"Yeah, I know that."

"And you have to keep your instrument and your voice in tune while singing…"

I swallowed hard. What Miyako said hadn't occurred to me at all… she was definitely right.

"I-I'll try my hardest…" I squeezed Rainy Day's strap, "I'll practice at home too."

Miyako smiled and nodded in approval.

I guess it's approved for now…

* * *

The next day, I was yawning through most of it… I had spent more time worrying about the paperwork for our club than any normal human should… I haven't even picked up any forms yet… not to mention, I need to go pick up those application papers so we can be officially listed under our clubs… God knows where I left the ones from the beginning of the year… I probably chucked them.

"Katsuragiiii!" My eyes drifted up to Kodama-sensei, who was at said boy's desk, holding out a hand. Katsuragi pulled a face and handed over his PFP.

That was kind of odd… Only Nikaido takes his consoles…

"Everii-onne!" he boomed in bad English, "let this be a lesson to you…" he twirled the shiny game in his hand as he approached the window. He then chucked the PFP out like a Frisbee.

What the hell!? Even Nikaido doesn't do that! I glanced back at Katsuragi, but his face was completely clear.

What can I expect? He's probably not that attached that he'd go searching or hold a funeral for a broken PFP.

* * *

After class, while Miyako and Ayumi were in T&amp;F, I told Ellie to do whatever while I got the forms from Kodama. He was there, which was both lucky, so I could get the forms, and unlucky, coz I didn't particularly want to see his ugly mug.

"Ah, Kosaka…" a chill ran up my neck. I was hoping he didn't remember me…

"Kodama-sensei… can I have the forms so we can register as an official club?" his face contorted in what might have been a smile. I've only seen his smile sardonically, leer, and shout at people, so I have no clue.

"I usually have to chase after people for those… thanks for taking the initiative…"

He left to go find them, so I took the opportunity to survey his desk. I laid Rainy Days at the foot of his desk and looked at the post-its stuck to various piles.

"Mark these by Friday…"

"Mizuki gets 0 for cheating," I cringed. It was Mizuki's fault though.

That's pretty odd… no pictures of a wife or kids… there's only one frame, and it has paper in it. My eyes trailed off to the post-it stuck on the frame.

"Figure out how to break those damn games…"

Wait, that doesn't sound very teacher-like… I looked at the framed paper. It was a graded test with 99 percent… Keima Katsuragi.

Ellie mentioned this yesterday, but why would Kodama keep this test? It's near perfect anyway, so why is Kodama confiscating his PFPs… and isn't breaking a child's belongings a breach in what teachers can do with confiscated stuff?

All teachers hate Katsuragi and his games, but even this seems a bit overkill.

I heard footsteps so I quickly moved myself into a more respectful position.

"Please get these filled out as soon as possible," Kodama put the papers in my hand and sat back in his chair.

"Sure," I replied coldly. I turned around and walked away.

"Kosaka…" I stopped, "what would you use to break a gadget… like a phone or something?"

His tone was so casual it disgusted me. It was a thinly veiled question regarding those PFPs.

"I don't know, Sensei…" never mind that I could name half a dozen ways, including his freakishly weird chin. He'd probably break something if he just chin-butted it.

"Eh, I'll figure something out…" I continued walking when I heard him exclaim, "Maybe if I took all of them and put them in a bonfire!"

That petty man… gadgets are bloody expensive! Does he have no regard for Katsuragi's parents, who forked over for those… does he not even care that it's a student's hobby he's wrecking? How did he even become a teacher with that attitude?

When I reached the clubroom, Ellie was slouching over the balcony. That was kind of unlike her… usually me or Ayumi would be the unmotivated bums who would be like that… I hope she wasn't depressed again.

"Yo, Ellie," I slapped her on the back, "you alright?" She turned to look at me. Only then did I notice she had binoculars held up to her eyes. She'd been spying on something. I was immediately curious.

"Who're you looking at?" My eyes wandered around if there was maybe something scandalous around… some kids making out… anything like that.

"I was looking for a firetruck," she replied sadly, "but there isn't anything here…" I sighed… Ellie was just so pure… If I had those binoculars though…

"This building doesn't face the road, Ellie… the west building would probably be better, though."

"I'll have to check later then," she straightened up and walked inside, "so should we begin practicing, Chihiro-san?" I shook my head.

"We need to fill in this paper work first…" I had dumped the small pile on one of the upside-down desks, so I indicated to them. I really wasn't in any mood to deal with them now… especially coz Ellie was done with her binoculars, and I was itching to try them out. If only Ellie could do them…

Wait, Ellie could do them… she could write, at least… then I could stare outside and in other people's classrooms.

So that's what we did. I set up Ellie's desk by the window and I borrowed the binoculars.

"Name of Club?"

"Maijima High's Light Music Club," I started scanning the fields for any interesting sight… Ayumi and Miyako were there, but they were running, as one does in T&amp;F… how boring.

"Club President?"

"Chihiro Kosaka… 'Ko' as in small, 'saka' as in hill, and 'Chihiro' is hiragana."

I moved my search towards the left, but it was mostly trees and the few traipsing people. Still pretty boring…

"Umm… number of club members?"

"Four currently… but once we get our drummer, we'll reach five…"

Wait, I can actually see behind the library. That should be good! If this school has any make out spots, behind the library is definitely one.

"What does the club do?"

"Make music…" I paused, "and we learn about musical instruments and sheet music and stuff…"

Though I should make this sound more formal, should I not?

"We learn and research about the art and science behind music," I nodded. That sounded decent.

"And we also play music ourselves… and sing…"

"Yeah, write that too. We're all about the music… Like we listen to so much music that it pours out of our ears…"

In the end, I gave up. No one was doing anything interesting and Ellie needed help with the budget questions. I pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, coz I'm cool like that.

"How much budget should we request, Chihiro-san?"

"Well, it depends on our club expenses…" I stared at the form, but no expenses really came to mind. We already had the instruments… we didn't have a mic yet, though… though how much do mics even cost?

"Just leave it blank for now, Ellie," I sighed, slumping on the head rest. Hopefully, Miyako may have some idea… Ayumi's an idiot, like me, so I doubt she can help here.

"Chihiro-san, can I be excused?" Ellie asked from her chair. I shrugged, so she let herself out.

"You know you don't have to be so formal," I mumbled as the door closed and I hung off the headrest on my seat…

Bored… bored… so bored…

Come to think of it, aren't they a little late? This hour feels like it's been dragging forever.

The door opened as soon as I thought that. Though, unlike what I was expecting, three people entered; Miyako, Ayumi and some cute boy in our uniform.

"Please tell me he's going to play the drums…"

Both Miyako and Ayumi laughed. They walked in, with the new guy tentatively waiting by the door.

"Unfortunately not… he's gonna be my shadow for a couple of days…" she motioned at him.

"I'm from the School Newspaper and we're doing a feature article on Takahara-san, so please don't mind me…" he scratched his shaggy head.

"Though where did Ellie go?" Ayumi pulled down a chair down from the stack and plopped it next to me.

"Dunno…" I lifted my head up to get a good look at the boy who was still awkwardly waiting by the window… With Miyako not saying anything other than a greeting, it was getting too silent here.

What better way to lighten the mood than making fun off someone. I pointed at Ayumi.

"Since when has this jerk been so popular that you'd write an article about her?" She stuck her tongue out at me.

"Actually, whenever she's in an issue, our distribution increases by 40 percent…" he looked down, even more awkwardly than before. What the hell is up with that?

And 40 percent? No way!

"Though I may be exaggerating… I've only been in the club for a few weeks…" I smirked… that was too big a number, after all…

"So are we going to begin now?" Miyako chimed in.

"Nah, Ellie's not back yet…" I pushed myself up, "though what kind of article will you be writing… um…"

"Yuuta…"

"Yes, Yuuta-kun…" I repeated. It was weird though… as it passed my tongue, I could feel this warm pool settling in my stomach, like I was embarrassed. Was it because I thought he was cute? He was even blushing from that number he sucked out of his thumb.

"It's a 'day in the life of Ayumi Takahara' article, because we do get a lot of questions regarding that. Takahara was kind enough to allow that…"

"Well, it's not like you'll intrude into my home life… right?" her casual tone dropped at the end. It must have occurred to her that she forgot to check.

"Of course… most people are just interested in your club activities and the amount of work that goes into your everyday activities…"

What was that last part? I think Ayumi's head must have cocked to the side too, because he stopped.

"You know… like your favourite foods and how much you exercise. They'd also be curious as to what you do in your free time, but I have no intention of intruding into your personal life otherwise."

"Alright, I can agree to that."

A mean thought occurred to me.

"Would you be interested in hearing some embarrassing stories about her, Yuu-"

"Don't you dare!" Ayumi kicked my chair. I fell off.

"Fine… fine…" I crawled up back into my chair.

The next couple of minutes was Yuuta-kun asking Ayumi questions, because Ellie still wasn't back. I just leaned forward, wondering why that name seemed to be ringing a bell somewhere far off in my head…

He did mention being in Class C… I don't really know anyone from there though…

The door slid open.

"'bout time, Ellie!" she noticed our guest.

"Yuuta-kun!?"

"You know him?" I was impressed. I assumed that her brother was the only guy she actually knew…

"Aaah…" she looked at me before glancing back at the guy, "umm…"

"Now that Ellie is here, can we pleeease start?" Miyako interrupted.

So we did… we had our first living audience, but considering that we were just playing broken sections of a song, it probably doesn't matter.

* * *

As I was locking up the room, someone was waiting for me. A fair-haired, significantly-taller-than-me male who I'd been incidentally hanging with this afternoon… well, it's hardly anything, considering there were three other girls there, and we weren't doing anything.

"Let me guess… you want the dirt I mentioned before…" I laughed.

"Not that…" he pulled out a pad, "I was hoping you could answer some questions though…"

I pocketed the keys from the lock before trying the door again. When I was certain it was locked, I started walking, where he followed me.

"I'll answer till we get to the gate…" I agreed. However, I should be cautious… I don't want to blab anything Ayumi would hate.

"So you're the President of the Light Music Club?"

"Yeah… though we've only been operational at school for two days or so…"

"Oh… for two days of playing, you guys sound pretty good…"

"Actually, we've been practicing outside of school for half a month or so… Only recently did we decide on the Band Name and whether we should become a club… Though you can credit Ayumi for thinking up the Club Name…" he quickly scribbled in his hand-sized pad.

"What was that again?"

"The 2B Pencils… coz all four of us are in 2-B and all…"

"That is pretty smart," he scribbled, "though is there any other relevance in the 'Pencil'?"

"Not that I know off…" I sighed… maybe me and Miyako have figures like pencils, but definitely not Ayumi or Ellie…

"Alright… So have you been friends with Ayumi for long?"

"Yeah… we've been friends since we could talk… Ayumi liked pulling my hair…" I smiled at that thought.

"Owch-"

"Not really… I used to climb on her, so I probably deserved it… that's what I heard from my father, anyway…"

"You guys must've been close…"

"Still are… She's the closest I have to a best friend, after all… I'd do anything for her, and I'm pretty sure she'd do the same…"

"That must be nice… having a best friend like that."

"Yeah, Ayumi is great! She's naturally talented and hardworking to boot, yet she never rubs it in anyone's face. Not to mention, her personality is pretty nice too… I'm glad I'm her friend."

We were approaching the gate by now. It was a little saddening, considering that my walk with the cute guy was over.

"So last question… is she going out with anyone right now?"

I stopped, my happy mood falling on the ground. I already knew this wasn't about me, but this hadn't been the first time I'd been asked this.

"Are you asking for the paper or because you're actually curious?" I asked coldly. He looked at his shoes.

"The paper… really…"

"If you want to know, ask her yourself…" I dug my hand into my skirt and used the other to pull up my bag, "if that's all, I'll be heading home…"

Without another word, I was gone, bad memories dredging back to the front of my brain.

I can't really say I have many male friends, but I do talk to quite a few guys… most of them are random faces who are too scared to approach Ayumi.

It was the same old song and dance… for a few days, we'd be all buddy-buddy. I'd probably come to like them after a bit, then once they find out Ayumi isn't interested in them, they'd stop being interested in me, and I'd have suck up any bitterness till I felt better.

I'm pretty sure it was that vicious cycle that made me more interested in how guy's look, rather than how they act… you can fake personalities or fake being nice… a pretty face will remain pretty for the time I know them.

Consistence is better anyway… personalities can change in a heartbeat, but looks can stay for years.

* * *

I was in the bath, listening to music and playing snake on my phone, when it beeped. It was another message.

"Miyuki-san. If you get to talk to Akagi, can you please tell him to answer my messages?"

Ah, Babe's back…

"Im home already, so I cant do it in person. Should I call him?"

"Please… he's ignoring my calls, I'm pretty sure…"

Ooh, a fight between friends, and I'm right in the middle… how nice… at least let me get out of the bath…

"2moro, alright?"

"Yeah, tomorrow is fine… shops are already closed now, anyway…"

Odd statement… what's up with that? I put my phone on the floor and tried to relax some more in the bath.

Lately, I seem to be involved with a lot of story lines… why are none of them about me?

* * *

At lunch, I took some time to visit Shinji-kun and find out why he was ignoring his friend with the lame name. Luckily, he was chilling at the court, like he was some game character who was always programmed to be around there.

"Oh… him…" he bounced the ball, "I did check his messages… there's no way in Hell I'm going with him…"

"What, I thought it was the girls' job to PMS…" I ducked to dodge the ball he threw at me.

"It's not that, you know?" he strolled over to the ball, "He wants to take me to a shop no guy would ever be caught dead in alone…"

Oh, so that's why Babe mentioned a shop last night.

"Simple… just take Mappy with you…"

"It's not that simple…" he chucked the ball angrily at the net, but it bounced off uselessly, "I'm buying it for her, so she can't be around to see it…"

"Oh, I see… so is it a birthday gift or something?"

Though I'm pretty sure her birthday is in November…

"No… it's something else… He was going to help me, but now I'm just thinking that it'll be a bad idea…"

"If you think so, tell him yourself then," I think my patience had run out by this point, and that was the best thing I could think off.

Only later did it occur to me that if he needed help buying a present for a girl, why couldn't I help? I'm a girl and all…

* * *

In any case, I just forgot about it and got on with my own life, practicing with Rainy Days when I could and trying to improve my singing along with said guitar. For me, the days were fairly peaceful…

However, Katsuragi's PFP confiscation rate had increased quite dramatically, just like I'd read in that post-it. I left an anonymous note in Ellie's locker about the confiscations, but if she had done anything about it, I wasn't sure…

Yuuta-kun didn't ask me any more questions about Ayumi. I was grateful for that.

Only by Saturday had our club gotten those forms filled in. I'd gotten volunteered to deliver them back to Kodama after classes, so that was when I truly saw the pile of PFPs our teacher, the Cleft-chin King, had collected.

"Are those all Katsuragi's?" I asked to be certain. There was a whole box's worth, so I wasn't sure.

"Yep… And Katsuragi's sister's… it seemed like she was holding on to them for him, so I confiscated them too," he held out a hand, so I passed over the forms.

"Alright, you wait here… I'll just go get these filed."

And for another few minutes, I was by his desk. Unlike last time, his laptop seemed to be on as well.

I glanced at the frame where Katsuragi's test was before, and still was. The only thing that has changed was an extra post-it: "bonfire tonight!"

I angrily grabbed the box of PFPs that was sitting on the desk, ready to pour it into my bag. However, what stopped me were the sharp footsteps behind me.

"What are you doing with those, Kosaka?" a familiar female voice asked. I took a deep breath. I had already expected I'd get in trouble with Kodama, so I may as well stick through the plan…

"I'm stopping a bonfire," I said, dumping the whole box into my bag, "punish me if you must, but those PFPs cost way too much to scrap…" the voice behind me laughed.

"You sure feel strongly about someone else's games… or maybe this is about that some else…" I blushed. Nikaido put a hand on the box with the PFPs. I didn't let go.

"You know… you will get in trouble for this…"

"I know…"

"And all that hard work you and your friends put into your club will go to waste…"

"I know…"

I know it was selfish, and really stupid, but Kodama made me so angry… it's just one 99… cut the kid some slack. If Ellie had been here, she would have stood behind me too…

"You really like Katsuragi, don't you?"

"It isn't quite that…" I shook my head, even though she was right, "I'd do this for any of my friends…"

Even friends who I wish I could talk to, but I can never get the get the guts…

"Friends, huh?" she sighed, "I'd believe it more if your face was a more normal colour…"

"In any case, I'm doing this… if you plan on punishing me, please do it now, or wait till Kodama-sensei comes back so he can punish me," she sighed.

"Katsuragi had a deal with his teachers that they wouldn't punish him for playing games, as long as he got full marks for all his assessments… So Kodama-sensei is within his rights to punish him…"

"I did figure that one out…" I replied sourly. Why is she talking now?

"However, if he got 100 percent, Kodama-sensei would have to concede, and wouldn't be allowed to punish him…"

Why is she just paraphrasing it? Either punish me or leave…

"I mean, Katsuragi always gets perfect marks, so if there was no proof that he got less than perfect marks…"

There we go… her point sunk into my skull.

"So he'd be innocent unless proven guilty by some evidence…"

"I didn't say anything of the sort," she nodded. I got where she was getting at.

"So if I was to take this test, would that work to clear the guilty party?"

"I don't suggest doing that," she nodded, so I started opening the clasps at the back, "however, teachers do keep mark sheets."

"So you suggest I shouldn't look into Sensei's laptop?"

"Exactly," she shook her head before turning around, "now, if you don't mind, I'm going to leave the faculty room, so don't get into trouble."

She grabbed the box of PFPs and put them by her desk.

"Roger!" I sent a salute her way and thanked the Gods that no teachers seemed to be around today… probably because Saturday's classes are over. I pushed his spinning chair back and stooped behind the open laptop. When I rubbed the pad, the screen turned on.

[Enter password]

Shit!

I glanced at all the post-its I could find, hoping one of them had it. Luckily, there was one weird one under his laptop.

[My chin is amazeing]

When I typed it in, bad spelling and all, the computer opened.

Huh… the guy who teaches English can't spell… how ironic.

Luckily, it didn't take too long to find the mark sheet Nikaido was referring to. His file naming sense was very organised, so I didn't have any problems opening or changing the marks. Considering that the test was now folded in my pocket along with those post-its and the mark sheet showed the 100 as well, he'd have no reason to look for those PFPs. I closed the screen so it would automatically lock before walking back to the other side of the desk.

"Kodama-sensei, now that you're back, can I interest you in a cup of tea at my desk?" I heard Nikaido on the other side of the wall. I sniggered.

I feel like such a ninja right now… All I need is two minutes to hack into the bad guys PC and foil all his plans… I'm that good.

"Thank you very much, Nikaido-sensei, but I have a student who is waiting by my desk…" both of them entered the room. I was safely away from the desk, leaning on the wall, as cool as ice-cream.

"Kosaka…" he eyed the desk, "have you seen the box that was on my desk?"

"There wasn't a box on your desk, Sensei…" I looked confused. He quickly walked to the picture frame.

"Wha-what about the frame?" he held up the empty frame towards us.

"I was actually wondering why it was empty… don't you have a wife and kids who you want to show off?" Nikaido nodded along.

"Bu-but… Katsuragi…" he opened his laptop, floundering towards his many post-its, looking for anything… anything that would agree with him.

"Don't tell me you fell asleep in the bathroom on your way here?" Nikaido added.

"Katsuragi got 99 for his term paper… where is it!?"

"Sensei, you gave us all our papers in class, including Katsuragi."

Kodama was too depressed after that to say anything, but I was cool with that. Nikaido walked me to the door.

"Thanks for your help, Sensei," I turned around and gave her a slight bow. I wouldn't have really been able to do anything without her help. She didn't want to say anything, so I continued on my merry way to the clubroom.

"Kosaka…" I stopped, "you're a good friend to that kid," I smiled.

"How about next time, you actually talk to him instead of sending him glances during classes?" I truly considered giving her a rude hand sign to hide my embarrassment, but in the end, she did help me... also, I could get into shitloads of trouble for that.

* * *

During our next English class, the glutton for punishment, my classmate and crush, Keima Katsuragi, was back on his console, giving Kodama weird looks, which he just ignored. That was the way I liked it.

"Good for you, huh?" I hit Katsuragi on the shoulder, "that Kodama is off your case…"

"It didn't really matter to me…" he paused his game, "wonder what changed his mind."

"Beats me," I shrugged, "but you look happier, which is why I don't feel guilty doing this…"

Then I gave him a round from my pea-shooter I'd made in class.

The truth is that I worry sometimes… if I turn overly nice to Katsuragi, I'd just open a can of worms I probably won't be able to deal with…

We'd actually become friends… one day, the words I've used all my will to shove down will come tumbling from my mouth… then what?

He rejects me and whatever casualness we have is completely lost… he accepts and maybe we go out for a couple of months, before I realise I'm not as serious as I think… then we break up and all casualness is lost.

Yeah, I do want to be friends… I do want to ask what his games are about and who he's going to date next… I do want to tell him about how rocking Rainy Days is… I do want to tell him how me and Nikaido trumped Kodama in a battle of wits and saved all the PFPs…

All in due time, of course… I look forward to the day I can say I don't have a crush on him… that will be the day I'll go all out and say all I've ever wanted to say and ask all I've wanted to ask.

Because that will be the day it won't hurt if he ignores me.

* * *

On the last day of school, during the closing ceremony, I was dozing off until Prez came on to talk. I was excited, coz this is the first time he's spoken out to the school… since I've known him, at least.

He gave a pretty good speech, until the Headmistress patted him on the back.

"And now, we must thank Yuki Fuyuhara, for his last two years of service for the Student Council. He's transferring out of Maijima Academy over the holidays, so the Vice President, Haruka Mizushima, will take his place from the next trimester. Please everyone; give a round of applause to the President…"

The clapping started, but I just watched, slack-jawed, the sound both deafening and fuzzy in my head.

The Prez… is leaving?

* * *

**That was a super obvious opening for the next chapter, but whatever... I'm not really known for my subtleness.**

**In any case, this was too dailogue-heavy for my liking, and it made writing a bitch. However, the parts which I wrote today are actually pretty decent. And even though I do this quite casually, yes, Yuuta-kun is back. Considering he was kind of bumming around in TMBD, he seems to have gotten some interest in the Newspaper Club. Where this actually leads... I guess you will have to see...**

**I'm not gonna make any promises about the next chapter, coz I realised I hate writing on my phone. I will see you when I do.**

**Ja ne... Just read the new Nisekoi chapter, so I'm gonna go mull over the unfairness of Marika's situation in bed.**


	9. Maybe it was alright to ask

**Hello, everybody... long time no see...**

**I'm very sorry for this super long delay, but it was only recently I actually got down to finishing this.**

**You see, I actually realized that me wanting to do a specific arc in a single chapter was what made this so difficult to write. With a help from a friend, I finally got the resolve for finishing this.**

**So to explain, this is a four chapter arc revolving around the Prez, and I'll be attempting to post this all in about a week. In any case, we begin now. I hope you like.**

* * *

I honestly wasn't sure what hurt me more… the fact that Prez was going, or the fact that he didn't even tell me, so the only time I did get to hear it was when the whole school did… in any case, after band practice, I was waiting impatiently outside the Student Council's room, with Miyako and Ayumi.

"Why did you two even decide to come?" I asked both of them.

"I just wanted to wish him well," Ayumi held up her hands, defensively, "or did you want to come alone?"

I ignored her teasing tone.

"We're friends, aren't we!? Why did I only get to hear of this now!?" I kicked the door edge, "Or am I really such a bad friend that I don't even deserve to hear?"

Miyako shrugged.

"I'm sure he had his reasons… Now, once we're done, can we please return this cart?"

"What cart?" I absentmindedly asked.

"This one," she ran it into my leg, which left me jumping on my uninjured leg, rubbing the other sore calf, "you're the one who had me borrow it from the Copier room so we could look for the drum kit in the Wind Instrument club, and you forgot about it?"

"Well, I remember now," I replied grumpily, "why the hell did you have to hit me with it?"

"You wheel it for a bit…" she shoved it toward me, but I jumped to the side, where it nearly went into the wall, except that Ayumi saved it.

"If you two are gonna be babies, I'll take it…" she wheeled it back towards us, "So is he free yet?"

The window still showed some girl still speaking to Prez… Boring… I turned back to Ayumi and the cart, when something occurred to me. I put down my leg, which was probably going to bruise above the ankle later.

"Say… do you think this cart could hold someone's body weight?" I circled around the metal frame, barely 10 centimeters off the ground. It was metal, and pretty well supported, considering it was supposed to hold paper.

"Could be," Miyako joined me, "it looks firm…"

"I'll give someone 200 yen to stand on this…" I generously offered, but both of them shook their heads, "then which one of you spoil-sports would push me on this?" I climbed onto the base of the cart, which felt as solid as it looked.

"You know, we'd probably be breaking school rules if we rode that…" Ayumi said.

"And by the Student Council President's office, nonetheless…"

"I don't want to hear it from you two… you break school property once a week… and you chew gum at school…" both of them sighed, a bit red-faced at getting caught out in their hypocrisy.

"I want to push her," Miyako said to Ayumi, who nodded. I nodded as well, satisfied. Miyako pulled back the trolley some metres back, so we were facing away from the door.

"Don't want to get into trouble, huh?" I noted. She smiled craftily, which set the hair on the back of my neck up, after which she wheeled the cart so it was facing Ayumi, who was by the door.

"I'm doing this so you're the only one who'd get in trouble… now, turn around, if you will?" I unwillingly complied, so now I was facing Ayumi as well, "have a safe trip!"

"Wait, let me s-" I whimpered, but she showed no mercy.

And with more force than I thought humanly possible, she shoved the cart, with me still standing on it.

After a second or so, I got used to the speed, and it was actually kind of nice. My hair was flying behind me, and the walls were blurring at the end of my vision…

"Alright!" I threw out an arm, which had been frozen to the handle behind me, "Oh, hey Prez!"

Yeah, the door opened in time for Prez and his companion got to watch me whiz past them.

"Wait, how do I stop this!?" Luckily, or maybe unluckily, it did stop when the cart front bumped into the wall a hundred metres away. The cart had slowed down some that I didn't go flying, but the whiplash was still there, and damn, was it sore!

I stumbled back to the door.

"What the hell, Miyako!?" but she was out of sight already. I guess her plan worked…

I was about to continue past the door to catch her, but Prez put a hand on my head, pushing it down. My legs felt like jelly, so I had no chance of moving.

"Miyamura-san, please meet my friends… Kosaka is the idiot on the cart, Terada was the one who pushed her before disappearing somewhere, and Takahara is the one pretending she doesn't know either…"

Wooh, my head!

"Now, please help me get these nutcases inside…"

By the time I had gained proper use of my head, I was sitting in the room, a steaming cup in front of me. Miyako was back, and the three of us were seated around the table, with the girl and Prez.

"So-sorry about that…" I muttered. The girl laughed.

"Well, that's what youth is about…" she sniggered, "not that you were particularly quiet before that…"

"Yeah, sorry to have been a disturbance…"

"It's alright," the Prez said warmly, "is your neck alright?"

"I think," I turned around, when a sharp pain hit my neck, "actually, I don't think so…"

"Well, that's youth for you… bitter-sweet and all…" the girl remarked, which got a laugh out from everyone.

"So…" Miyako said, while we were all sipping on the coffee in front of us, which was surprisingly good, considering I didn't really drink coffee, "you must be wondering why we came?"

"Not really… Chihiro-san wanted to know what the deal was with me not telling her in person that I was leaving…"

"Yeah…" I replied softly, "did I do something wrong?"

The girl randomly stood up, the chair clattering slightly at the surprise, without falling.

"Takahara-san… Terada-san… we should get that cart back to the Copier Room!" she left without getting a reply from either of them. They both gave me pointed grins, before taking the cart and leaving.

They didn't shut the door behind them, which was a sure sign they probably wouldn't be far. I could follow the thought process behind that.

"It's a good thing this isn't a confession, or then I'd probably have asked them to close the door behind them!" I said loud enough that it would travel. The door slammed shut, so I'd been right. I turned back to Prez, a grin on my face.

"Did you not tell them you've already confessed to me?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I didn't tell them much from around that time…" my brain went back to what he'd been saying before, "though were we seriously that loud that you heard exactly what I was worried about?"

"Yeah…" he awkwardly looked at his hands, "sorry 'bout that… it came really suddenly to me too… That's why I didn't tell you."

That was a relief to hear… so it hadn't been anything I'd done…

"I'm glad…" I took a sip of the semi-bitter coffee, "though do you have any sugar?"

"You sure you wouldn't prefer some chocolate to throw in instead?" I snorted my unfortunately timed sip into my nose. So he still remembered that?

"Though when I watched you zip past my door earlier, it reminded me of when we met…" he clasped his fingers and put his head on them, "you're still as goofy as then…"

"Is that a good thing… that I haven't changed?" I tried to disguise my curiosity behind another sip.

"You actually have changed a bit…" he said casually.

"I have?"

It doesn't feel like that at all for me…

"Yeah, you have," he agreed. That was all.

"You're not going to elaborate?" he laughed.

"I knew you were curious… even if you act like you're just humouring me…" I blushed.

"You got me… now, can you continue? I want to hear how I've changed!" he shrugged and took a sip of his drink.

"You should know that, shouldn't you? I want to hear how you've changed…"

"Now you're being mean…"

Somehow, I think I understood what he wanted before he would continue. He wanted the answer from me, even though he knew the answer… or maybe he wanted me to think… so I did.

"I guess… I'm not that obsessed with guys anymore… and I play a little guitar now…"

"There actually is more…" he said, but unlike before, he didn't make me fish for it, "you're actually more cheerful recently."

"Is that so?"

If so, why? I feel like I've actually been more mean-spirited lately, so he can't be right there.

"Yeah, at first, you were actually a lot more reserved… honestly, had it not been for the chocolate tea thing, I would've assumed you were like any other girl… But now, you're more open with your quirks, and I think that's great."

I was a little flattered that he had been paying enough attention to pick that up.

"Why can't all guys be like you!?" I whined. He laughed.

"Like what, exactly?"

"You know… cute… nice… observant… actually interested in me!" I waved my arms, nearly hitting the cup on the saucer. He laughed.

"You sure you're not confessing to me again?" I shrugged.

"I get the vibe that you're not particularly interested in that kind of stuff… so no. I'm just saying what I think."

"That's good to hear… so thanks."

For a couple of seconds, neither of us said anything… it was just a little hard imagining that this would be the last time we'd meet at school… or possibly even in person.

I hadn't even given him a parting gift… or at least something he'd remember me by. Though maybe I could… I still had all our freebie toys that I'd taken from our clubroom earlier on today.

"Say… can I give you something?" I asked, digging into my bag. After some nodding from him and some fumbling from me, all five animals were sitting on the table in front of us.

"What are these, exactly?"

"The audience in our clubroom… I didn't really get time to buy you anything, so I'd at least like you to have one…" Prez nodded.

"Alright, that would be a nice present to remember you by…" he agreed. He ducked down, eyeing each of the plastic figures carefully, "I think I'll take this one."

"Good choice," I nodded at the panda that he'd picked up.

"Yeah, it kinda reminds me of you…" he answered, patting its head, "In any case, I think you should choose a name for him."

Man, but I suck at names… Way to put me on the spot, Prez.

White… black… A name popped into my mind.

"How about Shirayuki?" I suggested.

"Snow White… That kind of Shirayuki?" He seemed puzzled by that, considering how he was twisting the little plastic bear around.

"Well, yeah… Snow White had black hair… So Shirayuki works…" I nodded. It wasn't a very creative name but at least it wasn't stupid.

"I dunno… it seems male…" I just sidestepped the issue, as I usually did.

"Shirayuki-kun it is…" I replied happily. Prez laughed.

"I'll take it… just, I hope if you ever have sons, you won't give them any girls' names."

"That I will try…" I laughed, "I'll run my baby names by you first."

As soon as my words sunk in, I actually realised how sad this was… If he was moving away from this town, would we actually meet up enough that we could discuss this kind of stuff?

Could we even continue being friends like this? I tried to gulp down the hard knot that was forming in my throat…

"Why do you have to go? You only have two trimesters left in this place, so can't you wait?" I could feel the start of tears forming in my eyes.

"I really wish I could, Chihiro-san…" he sighed, "this is out of my hands, so all I can do is apologize…"

"Apologize then…" I hissed, but by then, the tears were already on their way down, "apologize for being so friendly with me, then not even staying long enough that we could do anything fun together…" I scrunched my skirt with my shaking hands, but there was no use. I was crying enough that I could only see everything as murky shapes.

"Chihiro-san…" a warm hand landed on my shoulder, "I really am sorry that I have to leave…"

"You should be," I croaked, "You were supposed to be here so I could whoop for you when you graduate… or so you could watch me play my guitar…"

A fresh round of tears formed… I didn't even get to play him anything yet. I stood up stiffly.

"C-can't you wait one more term?" I pleaded, "we're gonna perform during the Mai High Fest and I was going to-"

My words cut off as I felt my previously downturned face press against something warm and hard. Then, I felt arms wrap around my shoulders. Prez was hugging me.

"I'll definitely come to see you perform…" he replied softly, his hand stroking my hair, "even if I need to run away from Military School…" I laughed lightly and turned my head so I wasn't talking into his chest.

"Don't be stupid…" I moved my arms so I was hugging him back properly, "you can't run away for something like that…"

Despite the horribly warm weather, hugging another warm-blooded human wasn't uncomfortable… On the contrary, I didn't want to let go, because I knew when I did, I wouldn't get to do it again… he's leaving, after all…

"I'm gonna miss you," I mumbled, tightening my grip. He laughed, which I felt inside me too.

"I'll miss you as well…" he replied in a slightly gruffer voice than usual. I think I was probably hugging a bit too hard that I was choking him, but he didn't protest about that.

Come to think of it, have I even hugged a guy before? My head was still a bit clouded to remember exactly. Still, if it was, it was a nice feeling.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, which I felt again. It couldn't really hurt to tell him, would it?

"I was just thinking that hugging people isn't so bad… if everyone felt like you…" I was close enough to hear the slight intake of air.

"Yeah… I don't get to hug people that often, but you seem cuddly… I bet you hug your friends often."

"Not really… that's more Ellie's thing… I don't think I've even hugged a guy before…" almost immediately after that, he let go of me. My arms kind of fell in surprise as well.

"Sorry about that…" he looked down, seemingly embarrassed, "I didn't really ask for permission to hug you…" That cracked me up. Did he think about that whole time thing… in this situation, of all things?

"You know, a first hug isn't actually a thing…" I giggled, "but thanks for considering my feelings, even if it was a bit late." Her rubbed his head, embarrassed, "at least you didn't kiss me or anything like that…"

"You haven't had your first kiss yet?" he asked, somewhat shocked.

"Considering I was actually thinking about how I've never hugged a guy, what do you think?" he laughed, his fingers playing with his white undershirt at the sleeves…

Man, it's Summer… why would he wear a full sleeve undershirt in this heat?

"Well, you'll never have to worry about me kissing you…" he laughed, picking up Shirayuki-kun, the plastic panda from the desk, "I'll leave that to Katsuragi-kun…"

"You had to mention him, didn't you?" I groaned, but I could my face heating up.

"What, you want him to, don't you?"

"Well… I don't not want him to…" I mumbled, "But rather, why would I never have to worry about you!? Am I unlovable or something?" his smile fell slightly.

"It's not that… you know what it is…"

"Maybe you should say it in proper words instead of just implying it…" I snapped back, before regretting my tone, "though you don't have to…"

"No…" he ran a hand through his hair nervously, "I did get you to spill about Katsuragi, after all… I should as well…"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out…

"Should I give you a hand?" I asked. He nodded, his adam's apple bobbling like crazy, "when we first met… were you lying when you said you were lying about being gay?"

His weird twitchiness calmed down and he solemnly nodded, his head falling toward the ground. I felt my annoyance rear its head.

"Look up," I ordered. His eyes met mines, "if you feel ashamed about that, you're wrong…"

"I'm not ashamed about that…" he mumbled, "I told you the truth in the first place, then just took it back. I'm more ashamed that I lied…"

"Though why did you?" I wondered. Since he brought it up, it was actually a good question.

"I thought you were really fun when we first met… I didn't want you to treat me differently, or the hate me for being weird…"

"Please," I scoffed, "I like weird… I wish I was weirder, actually…"

"Weird?"

"Well, I wanted to be special… that was why I asked you out in the first place. I didn't think badly of you then, and I don't think badly of you now…"

And that was the truth… I'd suspected it for a while, but in the end, it didn't really change what I felt toward him at all. And the honest, relieved smile that he sent my way was worth it.

"Umm… can we come in now?" we turned around, where Miyako was at the door,

"How long have you guys been there?" Prez asked.

"Long enough to hear the news that wasn't news…" Miyamura added, which had the Prez groaning.

"Still, we're glad you got it off your chest…" Ayumi added. I think that was the proof he needed. That bit of intel had no effect on anyone.

For a couple more minutes, the five of us just chatted. Still, as the sun was setting, time was definitely up.

"Thanks, Fuyuhara-kun… I wish you do well at your new school…" Miyako said.

"Yeah… I hope you get to see some cute guys there…" Ayumi added. The two of them stepped outside and waited for me, while Miyamura-san minded her business by the cupboard.

"You know… I figured you were pretty special when I first found out about you…" I smiled, "I think you've become even more special since then…" he smiled again at the encouragement.

"You're gonna kick ass at your new school… still, I hope you'll remember the little guys from here…"

"I'll send you a message whenever I can," he smiled, "As if I could ever forget someone like you…"

I wasn't sure if it was the happy look he had on his face, or those words, but I felt my heart squeeze then. I didn't let that show on my face.

"I'll hold you to that, then," I gave him a wave as I passed through the door, "See ya…"

* * *

**Ok, there you have it... 25 percent completion of this arc...**

**Seriously, you guys deserve better than this 3 month break, but I was really having trouble writing this, until I made a new friend on fanfiction, AButterfly'sTrueColours, whom is a huge KeiChi fan, and who had some pretty nice things to say about this fanfiction too... With all the idea bouncing and fangirling we've done between us, I think that was good about my Writer's Block.**

**So seriously, thank you all for holding up so long with this... I'll try my best, and because holidays are just around the corner, I'll try to do better.**

**And to all the people who are waiting for the next chapter of Down Memory Train, don't worry, that is next.**

**Ja ne... be sure to leave me a review if you have anything to say.**


	10. Maybe I should've noticed sooner

**Hisies... it's only been two days since my last update... has anyone seen me so punctual before?**

**Anyhoo, we kick off again. This chapter is gonna kick off the tone of the rest of this arc, so I hope you like it.**

* * *

When I got home, I was just about ready to call it. As easy as it was to see Prez off with a smile, being at home just reminded me of how things wouldn't be the same as they were today, or yesterday, or all those days that had passed without me even noticing. I would miss him more than I could even tell him.

In the end, I took my bath early and just died on my bed, because I was that demotivated.

"Nee-chan!" Chitose walked in, "What's up with you?"

"Just… lamenting how short life is…" I sighed, "and how people come and go in your life…"

"That's not like you at all…" he sighed, jumping on the bed next to me, "Do you want to talk about anything?"

"Nooo…" I sighed.

I didn't really want to talk about it… Prez is moving away, and after the talk today, I'm probably going to miss him even more… Part of me was even wondering if I decided to wait till now, when he was completely unattainable, to have a crush on him…

Gosh, that was not a nice thought… I rolled over so my overheated face was completely down on the blanket.

Could it be that I'm a masochist… all those random confessions… Katsuragi… now this guy, who's both gay and moving away… it really seems like that. I groaned loudly. Now was definitely time for a distraction.

"Just tell me about your school or something…" I spoke… well, tried to speak. Considering the mouthful of blanket and the request for me to repeat what I said from my younger brother, that clearly didn't work. I pushed myself up on my arms.

"Just tell me about school…" I repeated, before shoving my head back into the blanket.

"Uh… alright… During lunch today, two boys got over a fight over who was supposed to throw from the sidelines, because the ball clipped his ear before leaving… the teachers had to come break that up because most of the soccer team got involved and there wasn't any referee… Umm… for some brilliant reason, our teacher decided to teach multiplication with three and four digit numbers in the last period of the day, so we have to our Summer Homework on it…"

I pulled myself up again at that thought… Summer Homework would pull my mind off stuff…

"Of course, it makes no sense, so I'm going to need to as-"

"Chitose, why not let Nee-chan teach you how to do this?"

"No way!" he crossed his arms, "you suck at explaining and holidays haven't even begun!" However, I had no plan of letting him go, so fifteen minutes later, I had stolen a low table and some cushions from the sitting room, and a bottle of orange juice from the fridge, as well as somehow convinced my brother that it was for our own good that we should begin now.

"Nee-chan, can you explain this to me?" he pushed his math book toward me. It was that multiplication of large numbers section.

"Alright, multiply all of the top numbers with the first number of the second row…" he followed my instruction, "then draw a smiley face there…"

"Are you out of your mind, Nee-chan!? There is nothing to smile about during maths…"

"Just do it, Idiot…" he sighed but dutifully put one down, "now multiply the top row with the second number, this time beginning right next to the smiley…" He did as instructed, before eagerly waiting for my next instruction.

"Now put two smileys, in the same line as the units and the tens column…"

"I'm sorry, the what?" I rolled my eyes.

"There and there…" I pointed. Apparently they only used that terminology while I was studying… else, my brother is a bigger idiot than I thought…

"So you continue with that train, just adding an extra smiley for every level you go up… then, you add them all up… A smiley is equal to zero… and there you go."

I moved my hand with a flourish, showing him the completed answer…

"That was surprisingly easy…" he nodded, looking at the sum, "though I'll just put 0s instead of smileys…"

"What, too good for smileys," I teased.

"Those lazy bums I call friends will want to see this… I will pass on them seeing those and making fun of me…" I laughed.

"You're a good kid," I ruffled his hair, "man, I miss this easy shit…"

Yeah, BODMAS, long multiplication and multiplication tables… I could finish this in one night.

"I'll tell Ka-chan that you said 'shit'…"

"So did you, Jerk…" I slapped him upside because my hand was already there…

Threats were pretty ordinary in our house… There was just a single taboo that no matter how angry you are with your sibling, you can never tattle about, nor threaten to tattle about… Come to think of it, it's that season again…

"So how was your report card?" I asked. As expected, he fell like a house of cards…

"Just… don't mention it to Ka-chan…" I nodded understandingly, "also, can you please stop rubbing my hair?"

What, I was still doing that? Damn you, Prez! Even if I don't actively think about him, my muscle memory was still fresh, it appears.

From my right, I heard my phone vibrate on the table, so I quickly reached over to get it. It was an email from Miyako.

"Hey… does Fuyuhara always wear long sleeves?" my eyebrow rose as that.

What a weird question… and what a weird thing to notice… from what I could remember, he does.

I just assumed it was an odd quirk of his.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he does… What of it?" I replied and put the phone down, but the content of the message bothered me… what did his preference in sleeves have to do with anything?

As I opened my English book, his face appeared in my mind… unlike his usual neutral, or even cheerful face, it was the face I'd only run into once or twice: only a small frown, but his own atmosphere completely unapproachable… or maybe I was just scared to speak then…

His sleeves… were they hiding his loneliness? I felt goosebumps forming up and down my neck, arms, and even my legs.

No… he can't be suicidal… he's smart, good at athletics, and good-looking. How could someone like that be like that?

The phone vibrated near my hand, making me jump and half scream.

"Nee-chan, are you alright?" Chitose asked.

"Umm… yeah," I snatched the phone off the table and hurriedly opened it.

"I think you should call him… I saw him through the window as we were leaving and he looked really sad…"

So it wasn't only me who picked that up… A new wave of shivers hit me.

Whenever he was alone, his face did look sad… was that his real face which he just hid behind his smile? Even today, he was more serious than usual… was him leaving school going to be what pushed him over…

No… no… no, that couldn't be it… he's always been happy… and even today, he didn't want me to be sad… no, he was fine… those sad eyes I'd seen meant nothing, right? right… he was perfectly okay…hewouldntdoanythinglikethatiknowthathesfineihavetomakesurethathesalright

"Chitose… Please get out…" he left with no questions, which was a relief. i quickly brought out my phone and called him.

pickuppickuppickuppickuppickup

It was no use. The automated message that he was out of range played after the seven rings that had gone through, ironically mocking me.

Wait, he gave me a house number. i sprinted downstairs and dialled the number in as fast as i could.

pickuppickuppickuppickuppickup

"Hello, Fuyuhara residence…" a lady answered.

"Hi… can i speak to Yuki, please?" she inhaled hard.

"S-sorry… there isn't anyone with that name here…" she replied. i groaned. Suddenly, a shrill beep hit my ear, quickly followed by a second one.

"Is there no Yuki Fuyuhara who lives there?"

"No, we are not interested in Life Insurance…" this was followed by two shrill beeps again. The lady on the other side must've been pressing numbers… Why?

"Uh, I'm not sellin-"

"Seriously, Sir, we are perfectly happy with our service…" suddenly it clicked as to why she was answering to a completely different conversation and the odd beeping. It was a message for me.

"Alright, I got it," i muttered, sending the two beeps back and grabbing the message book in front of me.

"Now, if you will, please put this number on your 'no call' list…" Well, that was what it sounded like. However, as she spoke, she started pressing that button again, sometimes longer and sometimes shorter… then sometimes, not at all… Still, i recorded her message in lines and dots, leaving spaces for when she'd been quiet.

Unlike this girl, who had been able to hold a perfectly sensible conversation while typing out something completely different, i was hopeless, just making weird sounds as i wrote it. Before I could even begin to think about what could be happening on the other side, the closing two beeps came again.

"Alright, i got it," i sent the beeps back before haphazardly putting down the phone. Still, as i walked deliberately to my room, I could feel the helplessness in myself disappear. I had a message I needed to translate. My phone's internet was really slow though, so I popped my head into Chitose's room.

"Can I borrow your PFP?" I asked, barging into his room.

"What was that about?" he countered. He was at his desk, continuing his work despite his previous complaints.

"Nothing you need to worry about, lil' bro. I just need to go on the internet…" his eyes hardened.

"I'm sick enough of our parents treating me like a baby, and I don't need it from you. Just tell me and I'll give it to you…" I sighed. While I didn't have the time for this, I was surprised he picked up on that with my parents.

"Look… I dunno what it is yet, but I need to translate this…" I slapped the paper in front of him.

"Cool! Is that Morse code?" he pulled it to his face, "I saw it in a game once…"

"That does make sense… so can you find a table that translates these?"

"Goddit!" he exclaimed excitedly, pulling the PFP from out of nowhere, "Can I translate it?"

"If you want to…" I smiled, plopping myself onto his unmade bed. I'd already done the hard part of picking up the message… now, it was just up to him to see if that made any sense.

Even still, this is kinda weird... did I enter some spy movie? That would have been a completely normal phone call too, had there not been those beeps.

No, I can't feel chuffed yet… I have no clue what's happening to Prez…

"Nee-chan," he said, after about three minutes, "this isn't Morse… some of them don't match, and the ones that do don't make sense together…" I breathed heavily… I messed up in taking it down.

"Is there any other Morse… like Japanese Morse?" I stood next to him watching him search.

"Oh wait, there is…" he quickly opened up the picture and started translating. My legs automatically started moving from my nerves.

"Yeah, this makes sense now…" he spun his chair around, "you're not going to like this though..."

"What is it?" I walked back to him, when he shoved the paper into my hands.

"Yuki ran away…" I muttered, but the message was clear in my brother's handwriting.

* * *

**Dunn dunn dunn... action movie sequence begin...**

**Naw, but this will be a genre shift, for at least another few chapters... of course, Prez will be back next time, so don't bite your nails too much...**

**Or better yet, do any people even care for OCs? Hmm, who knows?**

**Anyhoo, read and review. I'll be back once I'm done the next chapter.**

**Ja ne**


	11. Maybe I'll trust in my family a bit more

**Hey ya'll... long time, no see!**

**I know this one is totally my fault, and I am sorry, but recently, a lot has been going through my head, ****and just getting my brain in order takes longer than any task... in any case, here is the fruit of my toil... 10 000 freakin' words!**

**Have fun with that...**

**In any case, I'll post a language warning... I'm not one to swear, and thus far, I've censored it, but with the nature of this arc, I figured censoring would actually be to it's detriment... so I didn't. **

**You have been warned... Now please enjoy...**

* * *

"Prez is missing..." I heard myself mutter, but it didn't feel like I was the one saying it... like I was listening to someone else talking... It wasn't one of those phrases I had never heard... I would hear it on the radio and on TV... but in my own house... about my own friend?

My brother had a more grave look on his face than I'd ever seen.

"What are you going to do, Nee-chan?" he asked.

What would I do? The better question is 'What could I do?'... What could any person who had a loved one disappear from their house do? You could hardly just leave it be... but this town is pretty huge, and with the train system, it was really possible to go anywhere... The police?

"Inform the police... Have them search the area..." Yes, that is the best plan of action... The police is always helpful...

"I don't think so, Nee-chan... doesn't a person need to be missing for 24 hours before you can get the police involved?" I paused. He did have a point there...

I walked back to the bed, my head spinning slightly, as I tried to make sense of what was happening... Prez, my seemingly perfect friend, had now run away from home... more than that, there was a possibility that he could be suicidal... what the hell is happening? Why did he disappear before I could even figure out was happening?

Had I not been so self-centred during our casual chats, could I have gotten a hint? Why the hell did I accept his flimsy excuse of "being cold" for him wearing long sleeves in friggin' 34 degrees weather?

My God, I'm a real idiot...and more than that, he's an even bigger idiot... he has friends, right!? Why didn't he talk to them before disappearing!? Why didn'the talk to me during our heart-to-heart earlier today?

I'd never get to the bottom of this unless I hear his side of the story... and not the usual small talk I usually have with him...

Both my pissed off attitude and the fact that I wanted to see him strengthened my resolve and gave me my answer.

"I'm going to find him..." I replied, standing up, "though what should I tell Oka-san?"

I glanced at the wall clock, which was showing that it was 07:15… just two hours ago, I was in Prez's office, saying goodbye… but why had so much changed in such little time?

Though… if it's only been two hours since I left school, it is possible that he only disappeared in the last hour… or maybe in the last half hour…

But Oka-san…

"I'm home!" her voice drifted upstairs.

"Well, I guess you can decide now," Chitose shrugged, "she seems to be home now."

Part of me wanted to sit and try to absorb what had happen and make a plan, but the longer I spent here was time he could be doing anything… including hurting himself.

I sprinted to the front of the house before my imagination could get the better of me. I stopped when I was in front of my mother. I may be in a rush, but I wasn't brave enough that I'd go out in the evening without telling her… she'd kill me as soon as I got home.

"Oka-san…" I panted, "I have to go out for a bit…"

"Where to?"

My brain paused for a moment. Where would I even go? Maijima may be a small city, but I could be walking to anywhere.

"I don't know…" I sighed, "I'll take my phone with me, so you can contact me…"

"What is going on, Chihiro?" Oka-san's eyes narrowed. My hands went to my hair, as I tried to think of words… any words…

Oka-san is going to freak if I tell the truth… but if I don't, she'll be able to tell, considering my agitation is showing on my face now. My throat began knotting as well.

"It's my friend…" I detached my hands from my head with some difficulty, "he ran away from home, and I'm worried…" Then the waterworks began… as long as I spend here, he could be going further and further…

"Chihiro…" she put a hand on my head, "have you thought that he might have gone to another friend's house for the night?"

I stopped shaking… that could have been a possibility… but if he was depressed and didn't like talking about it…

"Chihiro… I know you might be friends, but you might be overreacting… Have you tried calling his phone?"

"I have," I replied, "it rang then went on voicemail…"

"That's actually not a bad sign… considering that it didn't go straight to voicemail, it means the sim card wasn't purposely removed… so it possible he left it home, when he went out."

I know my mother was saying this to make me feel better, but I only felt sick to my stomach. It took till my mother was half way up the stairs for me to put that upsetting feeling into words that my logical mother could actually understand. I wiped my eyes so I could see properly.

"Oka-san…" my mother stopped, "I really think that I should go look for him… I don't think his family would tell anyone he had disappeared unless they had good reason to believe it… he isn't the type to impose on people, either, so I doubt he went to a friend."

My mother frowned as she was mulling over what I said.

"I never thought it would be my lazy daughter who would take the more thorough route…" she cracked a smile, despite the worried look that was coming to her face, "I don't really know your friend, but in the end, he's someone's son… it's too callous to just hope for the best…"

I felt my heart lighten a little.

"So I can go look for him?" I felt my voice perk up in hope.

"Better yet, I'll come with you…" she smiled, "let's go find where your friend is…"

I felt a slight bit of relief that my mother was on board. Having an adult on my side would really be a help, but even still, nothing was set in stone. I still had no clue where to even begin looking for Prez… and if I went with my mother, surely we wouldn't be walking… I interrupted my mother again, who was now halfway up the stairs.

"O-oka-san?" I cleared my suddenly dry throat, "are you going to drive?"

"Of course… you can hardly go out in that outfit, either…"

I glanced down when I remembered I was still in pajamas from my bath… Dammit!

And I'd have to go into a car… double dammit!

Before I could say anymore, my mother, the power-walking queen, was already out of sight. I groaned and went to go find some casual clothes… I'd honestly spent so much time in between my school uniform and my pajamas that having to actually choose clothes felt a bit odd… goes to show how little a life I actually had…

But it might be a good thing, considering I was actually at home to get the news, rather than spending Saturday evening with friends like normal people.

In the end, I just came downstairs in shorts and a T-shirt, because it was still hot, and I couldn't be bothered, considering the crap that was still ongoing in the world, and oddly enough, in my life as well. My mother was waiting by the door, with Chitose a few metres away, bouncing his soccer ball over and over on a single leg.

"Let's go now, Chihiro…" my mother spoke impatiently, jangling her keys to the death trap. My throat started closing up again at the thought of going there.

"I… can't go…" I muttered, but it wasn't coming out easily. I swallowed hard and tried again, "I'm dressed properly now, so can't we rather go walking?"

My mother's eyes narrowed.

"You want to find him, don't you? There's no way you can cover most of Maijima on foot…"

"Then I'll cycle!" I replied, desperately, "just don't make me go in a car…"

For a couple of moments, the room was silent, where even Chitose wasn't kicking his ball anymore. My mother knew full well about how I felt about vehicles. I'd be even more of a wreck than I am already if my mother tried to force this issue.

"What do we do, then?" My mother asked, her voice surprisingly sympathetic, "I don't know what the kid even looks like, so I can't go without you… But even going on a bicycle will take too long…"

Oka-san definitely had a point… going on her car would be fastest, but I'd be so terrified I wouldn't even be able to help her if I did go…

"Why don't you show her a picture, Nee-chan?" Chitose interrupted my thoughts, but that was actually better than anything I could think of. I quickly dug into my short's pocket for my phone. Luckily, I'd asked Miyamura-san to take a group picture of us when we'd been at the Student Council room, so that would work.

"He's the one," I indicated, but honestly, I didn't want to look at the picture… I was already feeling guilty enough without seeing his politely smiling face…

"Send that to me," she ordered, and I nodded, "and what's his name, anyway?"

"Pre- Y-yuki Fuyuhara…" I stumbled before correcting myself.

"Alright," she nodded curtly, "where did you last see him?"

"About two hours ago, he was in the Student Council room…" I sighed. It seemed like the world was a completely different place then…

"Alright… I'll begin my search from there, then…"

"S-so what do I do!?" I burst out.

"You won't be any help for me in the car… you just stay home…" My mother turned back to the door, but Chitose was in her way.

"Ka-chan…" he said, his eyes downturned, "I think Nee-chan should go to school…"

"But-" Chitose looked my mother in the face.

"I think you should go to the train station and see if anyone's seen him… we'll be using our resources better then…" I just stared at my little brother… since when did he have more common sense than us?

"You're right…" Oka-san took a deep breath, "I have the most mobility from all of us, and if I can stop him from travelling on the train, it will mean that we'll have less to search as well."

That… is actually a brilliant plan… if my mother can let the people at the station know that Prez had run away, they could either stop him or tell us which station he'd gone, depending on whether he'd been there or not.

"Nee-chan, do you know any other place he could be, so I can search?"

I was about to start talking of the places that were suddenly coming to my head, when my mother interrupted.

"Chitose, you go with your sister…"

"What about optimising our resourc-" my mother put her hand up on my protests.

"You two are both kids… I want you to keep an eye out on each other… also, you'll need to go by bicycle…"

"But what abo-" I was the one who stopped Chitose's protest this time.

"Oka-san is right…" I sighed, "at least with two of us, we'd be able to think our way out of any sticky situation…"

Chitose wasn't happy, but he nodded.

With that, we said our goodbyes and were on our way. Chitose's bike was out for repairs, so we just doubled in on mine, laws be damned.

"Since when did you get smart?" I teased. Chitose, who was standing behind me, flicked my ear.

"I've always been smart… And it was hardly a difficult idea… it's because you're a girl that you didn't think about it…" I scoffed, but continued peddling. I didn't use my cycle much, but the motions hadn't left my mind at all.

"Oh reeeaalllly…"

"Yes really…" he sighed, "you always think of all the details and logistics… sometimes you just have to see the big picture, rather than the itty gritty bits of it…"

For a few moments, all I could hear was the chain and the wheels… For one thing, I could see that he had a point… it wasn't a particularly difficult plan to think up, but rather, I was reluctant about the thought of being in a car… and Oka-san was worried about us getting hurt or lost, so she'd rather deal with it herself… In the end, our thinking is usually governed by how we feel… it isn't quite details or logistics.

"Alright, if you say so…" I sighed, "so after school, where are we gonna go search?"

"You tell me, Nee-chan… where would he usually be?"

I thought about it for a moment… Prez was pretty quiet about his hobbies, but he was insanely smart... he also mentioned liking Shoujo manga, once upon a time… As usual, the fact that I could only think of such general facts just made me feel guilty. I swallowed, so it wouldn't show on my voice.

"Guy's a nerd… maybe we could go to li-"

The bike started shaking under me, but the route to school is really smooth… what is that?

It only got worse.

"Oh shit, earthquake!" I pulled my legs off the pedals and tried to put my feet on the ground, but we were still going too fast. I wanted to think of something else, but my brain started wailing. It was a while since I'd heard that siren, but it wasn't welcome at all.

I'm gonna die, aren't I!?

"Nee-chan!" My eyes snapped open when I remembered I wasn't alone. I wouldn't let him die here!

After a few moments, I opened my eyes. As expected, I was on the floor, but my arms were around Chitose's upper arms.

"Nee-chan, what are you doing?" Chitose's eyebrow was raised. I quickly let go and sat up.

"S-sorry…" I mumbled. I could feel the shame settling into my stomach. The bike had just fallen because the earthquake, and we only fell a couple of feet. It was hardly as if we were actually dying.

As I stood up, I felt my right arm twinge a bit. I'd grazed it when we'd fallen down. I tenderly touched my elbow on that arm, which felt burning hot. I must've scraped that as well.

"Chitose, are you alright?" he nodded. From the dim lighting of the street lights, it looked like he was telling the truth, "cool, let's go then…"

We ended up walking with the bike for the rest of the way, in case there were aftershocks. In any case, after that shock, I don't think I'd be able to cycle for a while…

Though the school was actually the first of our destinations… shit! What do I do!?

"Nee-chan…" Chitose tapped me on the shoulder, "there's someone over there…" I stopped abruptly, which just led to Chitose bumping into my back as well.

I didn't let myself get too amused by the pained groan from behind me, because Chitose was right… just a few meters away from us, someone was standing in front of the school gate. Considering the height and the silhouette, they were probably male…

I squinted, trying to get a proper look at the person. Most of the way was well lit, but this place wasn't. Man, how I wish I had thought to bring a torch.

"H-hello!" I called. The person turned towards us, and my heart started beating faster. His features still weren't coming into the light, "wh-who is this?"

"Fuck off!" the figure shouted, before turning around. I recognised that voice, but that tone… or those words… what the hell!?

"Prez, is that you?" I tried to call out, but my voice was quivering and all too quiet. While the voice was deeper and the words harsher, it still felt so familiar… but I could easily be wrong… Prez has never sworn before.

"Is that him?" Chitose whispered, holding onto my sleeve.

"I… don't know… I've never seen him like this before…" I rubbed my neck, "I can't see him well enough to tell…"

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Chitose take out his phone and walk off to the right of the figure.

"W-wait, Chitose…" but it was no use. Before my eyes, I watched my brother take off and charge at some stranger, yelling his head off. The person, who was fiddling with the front gate, looked up in time for Chitose to slam into him and bring him to the ground.

"Who the hell are you!?" Chitose screamed, shining his phone in the person's face. I quickly ran to the two of them, hoping to God that my suspicions were right.

I arrived just in time to hear the person answer their name, and that, assisted with the light on his face told me one thing…

I had been right… I breathed in relief and pulled Chitose off of Prez.

"You're a real idiot, you know!" I slapped Chitose upside the head, "what if it hadn't been him!?"

"He was so shocked he wouldn't be able to move anyway…" Chitose folded his arms stubbornly, "I would have been able to run away…"

I sighed, but turned to Prez, who was sitting on the floor, rubbing his head. I felt my anger flair up at that casual action.

"And you!" I ducked down to his level, "what the hell is your deal, Idiot no. 2!?"

"Chihiro-san…" he breathed, leaning himself away from me, which just fuelled my irritation.

"Of course, Jerk!" I raised my fist up, "why aren't you at home like a normal person!?"

"I can explain…" his voice shook, but that was enough to calm me down. Why was I angry when he was in front of my eyes?

"Don't…" I warned, and his face got more worried that I was going to sock him with that fist that was still floating in the air. So I did…

He cringed as my fist came closer to his face… then completely went around him.

"Chihiro-san?" he spoke questioningly, wondering why what he got was completely different.

"Shut up and let me hug you…" I hissed. He laughed lightly and placed his arms around my back, returning it.

Behind us, I heard Chitose clear his throat. I ended my awkward embrace and got up, where my brother was giving me a pointed look with a grin on his face. I looked away.

"You shut up as well…" I mumbled, but Chitose was looking at Prez. The embarrassment disappeared like that.

"Sorry 'bout that, Dude…" Chitose laughed, offering a hand to the runaway who was still on the floor.

"It's alright…" Prez replied, taking the assistance, "I think I needed that…"

As I was looking around awkwardly, I noticed my left T-shirt sleeve had a couple of dark spots. My fingers automatically went to rub them, but whatever that was, was wet and it just started spreading… did my arm start bleeding when I scraped it and fell? But I hurt my right arm… so where did the blood come from?

"Oi, Prez…" I interrupted whatever the two of them were doing by dragging Prez to the closest light post, where my bike was leaning against. As I'd expected, the blood wasn't mines… in fact, half of Prez's face was covered in it, because the source was by his right eye. His right glasses' lens was also popped out, which just backed that thought up.

"What the hell happened to you!?" I demanded an answer. He'd promised an explanation, anyway. His head fell, sending a few flickers of red off his face… I cringed a bit.

"Nee-chan, what are you- Holy shit!" Chitose came into sight, before jumping back.

"Chitose, call an ambulance," my brother nodded, but Prez grabbed both of our arms.

"Don't call them…"

"Give me one good reason…" I gave him a hard look, which had him let go of our arms.

"Look… I just can't get the police involved…" My fists balled up at my sides.

"But with patient-doctor confiden-"

"That doesn't count with a knife wound!" he interrupted.

That was a knife wound… I felt a flash of terror run through me as I could only imagine what Prez had gone through to get here.

"Who did this?" I asked, but my voice had gotten scary low. Good! I was pissed now.

"My father…" he replied softly. I felt my anger dial up further, "look, head wounds just bleed more than other wounds, but I'm fine, and away from that Bastard… please just leave me be…"

I took a deep breath… as if I'd let this go. I quickly thought through it… obviously, he'd run away from home for that reason… he won't go to a hospital, for some other reason… but I'd hardly leave him here to do whatever…

"Chitose… call Oka-san… let's just take him home in the meantime…" Prez opened his mouth to protest, but I gave him another hard look.

"You'll either come with us, or I will bring that copier cart and drag you home on that…" I threatened. I was hoping he'd nod and come along like a good boy, but he scoffed.

"If we could have gotten into the school, I would've been long gone…" I nearly smacked him on the head before I remembered he was still hurt. He was being irritating, however.

"Ok, first thing is, how hurt are you? Can you walk, or should I ask Oka-san to come with her car?"

"I'll walk…" he replied, his voice had a stubborn edge to it, "I'm probably going to use you as a crutch, though…"

"Then just take the car, Idiot!"

"Nee-chan, car or no car?" Chitose asked from a few meters up ahead, his phone held up to his head.

"No car…" Prez replied firmly. I just rolled my eyes.

"Just so you know, this walk will be easily twenty minutes, and I will be grilling you the whole way…" he sighed, but repeated his previous phrase… the guy had guts… that was all I could say.

I looked up at Prez, who was staring at me. I quickly looked away, my cheeks heating up.

"What!?" I barked.

"I guess I'll finally get to walk you home…" he smiled.

"H-hardly…" I scoffed, but my heart was beating weirdly, "now let's stop wasting time and get you home…"

"Fair enough…" he sighed, "so you'll be my crutch, right, Tsundere-san?"

My brother, who had finished his call and picked up the bike from the streetlight, appeared by my side.

"She really is, isn't she? She was even crying when she found out that you'd run away from home…"

Unlike Prez, I had no reservations kicking my brother in the shin.

"You knew about that, huh?" Prez wondered. I grabbed his left hand and pulled it over my shoulder. I wasn't sure which one of his legs were hurt, but at least his bloody side wasn't facing me… just seeing it gave me chills.

"Will this do as a crutch?" he nodded to my question.

"Though how did you know I had run away… or that I'd be here?"

"This isn't how the grilling is supposed to go-"

"Nee-chan called someone, and they gave that to us as a code… and here was just an educated guess…" I gave Chitose a sour look for interrupting me.

"I called your home, and some lady told me… in code, like Chitose said…" Prez laughed, for some odd reason.

"My little sister won't like being called that…" he explained, "she's probably the one who told you that…"

"That… was your little sister?" I asked. That didn't sound like a kid's voice as all…

"Yeah… though she used to get confused for my mother sometimes…" he cleared his throat, "in any case, she's the only reason I stayed at home so long…"

My brain was taking so long to absorb everything that I'd momentarily forgotten the actual cause of this, and the reason I was angry.

"Why don't you report your father?" I asked. Prez paused for a bit, before answering.

"Because he's actually a good father… to one of us, at least…"

"But that's hardl-"

"It is a good enough reason for me…" he finished my half uttered statement firmly, "he has a decent job and he'd never touch my little sister… I have no excuse breaking our already broken family even further…" I sighed. So this had been what I was missing when I was talking about how an A minor and an A major are different.

"You guys know we haven't started moving yet…" Chitose remarked. Once again, he was right. Prez's arm was half dangling over my shoulder, with no grip whatsoever. I grabbed his hand and pulled it over my shoulder again, this time using my left hand to hold his hand down.

"You can continue this on the walk," I remarked, stepping forward. Suddenly, my other arm started hurting.

Dammit, his clothes were rubbing against the part of my skin I'd scraped when falling off my bike. I quickly adjusted my arm so it wasn't in that much contact.

"Chihiro-san?"

"Let's go already," I pushed his back quickly to distract him, "so you were saying about your sister…"

"Yeah… that's about it, actually… My father only hates me, so I'm the only one he'd hurt… I was okay with that as well… we had a deal and all…"

"What deal?" my eyebrows knitted together again.

"It basically had two clauses… he could hit me wherever most people didn't see… and he couldn't touch my sister… If he followed that, I wouldn't report him to the police… Ow ow!" I quickly let go of his hand, which I'd started strangling in my rising temper.

"That isn't a deal…" I hissed, my hand clenching in and out of fists, "that's your father using your sister as a bargaining chip to doing whatever the fuck he feels like…"

A deathly quiet fell on us.

"Ch-Chihiro-san… calm down…" Prez said soothingly, patting my shoulder. That only riled me up even further.

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I CALM DOWN!? THAT SCUM BASTARD MAIMED YOU AND SENT YOU RUNNING TO GOD KNOWS WHERE! EVEN IF HE HAS SOME GOOD REAS-" Prez shoved his free hand on my mouth. My eyes widened at how close his face came to mine.

"Just stop, Chihiro!" he hissed, "it's hard enough trying to deal with this without you shoving logic in my face… just let me deal with this my way…" he removed his hand and his face away, but in the light, I could tell his eyes were sparkling.

I turned to Chitose, who had been keeping pace with us. He seemed to get the look I was sending at him, because he ducked, like he was going to do his shoelaces.

"I'm sorry for running my loud mouth…" I apologised, "I'm sure your kind of solution works in its own way…"

"Clearly it didn't," he hissed, but it just sounded odd through his tears, "just the fact I'm here is proof enough…"

"Though can I ask… what heinous thing did you even do that your father hates you so much?" He sniffled.

"I'm gay… as I mentioned earlier…"

"So…"

"My father thinks he can beat it out of me…" I swallowed hard.

That was such a stupid excuse that I should be angry, but all I feel is sad… I had wondered why he took so long telling me, but when he gets discriminated in his own house… what the hell is wrong with this world that something like this would happen to someone this good?

I desperately wanted to get angry, but that wasn't why my shoulders were shaking.

"Chihiro-san…" his voice had a concerned edge to it. Why was he concerned about me?

"How is this fair?" I asked, "not to say anyone deserves to be hit, but especially not you…"

"I guess that was my lot in life…" he sighed, "but I think my life is looking up now…"

"You ran away from home…" I replied, incredulously.

"I did…" he agreed, "but that just means I've left what was hurting me behind, and somehow, you found me…"

I smiled at his positive thinking, but in the end, I was worried… we came to the right place at the right time, but he hadn't intended to meet us… what was his plan if he hadn't met us? What was he even doing at the school at that time?

"Were you planning to sleep at the school tonight?" I asked, but my voice sounded hoarse.

"I was…" he sighed, "but I forgot they closed the gates… in any case, I keep my life savings and some emergency supplies in the student council room…"

So he was expecting a day like this to come… I couldn't imagine planning for something like this… for the day I'd leave my family and start a whole different life… as good as it was that he was out of that environment, he was basically starting from scratch… and he'd be alone…

No one should be alone…

"Thanks…" Prez muttered, so low I almost missed it, and considering he was basically at my ears, that was saying something.

"What for?" I asked, distractedly. By brain was still on that other train.

"For everything…" he sighed lightly, "this year has been pretty sucky for me, but I'm glad I met you…"

"Then I'm glad…" I nodded, "not that I'd expected this when I first confessed to you... but I'm glad I could be your strength…"

"Of course…" he grinned, "even if you didn't love me then, you sure do now…"

I felt my throat jump at that word, but if I'd been drinking something, I'd surely have spit it out then.

I was quiet as we turned the corner, but my heart was making up for that by beating right into my eardrums. Luckily, we were just by my house, and my mother was right by the door. As soon as she saw us, she came running to help me. The heat under my left palm disappeared as Prez was pulled away.

Odd… I didn't even realise that we were half-holding hands all the way back… I hope Oka-san didn't notice that.

Man though, it was a relief being back into the light… even though the house felt warmer than it should be, I could change my shirt, at least… but is it alright to leave Prez alone in a house of people he doesn't know… despite how sweaty and emotionally overworked I felt, I headed off into the kitchen.

"Nee-chan!" I turned around to Chitose, who was walking into the house after locking up the bike outside, "can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what is it?" I know I should rush so I don't leave Prez with my mother too long, but I did owe Chitose an explanation… I'd answer whatever he asked as truthfully as possible.

Chitose awkwardly looked at his shoes, which just made me more curious about what he wanted… was it about who Prez was… what had happened to him… if Prez had a cute sister?

"Nee-chan…" he kicked the ground with the front of his sneakers, "are you…" he did continue from there, but his voice trailed off into something into something I couldn't understand.

"Can you say that looking up?" He did, but me trying to read his facial expressions was useless.

"Are you going out with him?" he got out, his teeth clenched slightly. At that point, the house bell rang, so I wordlessly checked through the peephole.

The eye which was looking back at me told me one thing… there was only one person I knew who'd come that close. Unfortunately, this person was someone I was obligated to let in, no matter how much I didn't want to.

So I slipped the lock and let my cousin and uncle into the house.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, skipping the greetings altogether. My uncle laughed and ruffled my head, followed by my brother's. I quickly tried to push down the ensuing mess that would be my hair.

"Nice to see you as well, Squirts…" he replied, "your mother called, said she needed some assistance…"

"Yes please… she's in the kitchen…" out of nowhere, my uncle brought out his medical bag and skipped to the door, like he was actually happy to deal with that… I rolled my eyes. He is so much like my father that it isn't even funny.

"Yo…" my eyes trailed back to Keita, who had made himself at home on the seat by the telephone, despite the fact that his legs were too long for them, "I was worried one of you guys were so hurt you'd need Papa's help… that's a relief…" he smiled broadly.

"You know someone still got hurt…" I reminded him, purposely kicking his chair as I walked next to him. Chitose followed suit, sitting on the table the phone was on, but the awkward look on his face was gone… hopefully he forgot his question.

"Though who is the patient?" Keita asked me. I opened my mouth.

"Her boyfriend…" came the reply. I glared at Chitose, who was whistling happily, as if he hadn't said anything.

"You have a boyfriend!?" Keita replied incredulously. Was that concept that bizarre?

"What of it!?" I replied back, a little insulted, before my words caught up with my head… Shit!

"So he is your boyfriend?" Chitose asked. My hands automatically went up.

"N-no!" I stuttered out, obviously not making the situation better. The talking started instantly and simultaneously… and loudly.

"You should have told me, Nee-chan…"

"Woah! Chihiro actually has enough game to score a guy…"

"You guys!" I motioned for them to shut up so I could explain. As if that would work with those two hooligans…

"So tell me about the fella'…" Keita asked, expectantly.

"There's noth-"

"Don't give me that, Nee-chan… you two were flirting all the way home…"

"We were no-"

"What were they doing?"

"That guy was hurt on the head, but he was acting like he couldn't walk properly so he could lean on Nee-chan and hold her hand…"

"My God, that is-"

"Shut up!" I screamed.

"Wow, Nee-chan… you look like someone dumped red paint on you…" I stopped, taking a deep breath to calm myself, "I swear, I won't tell Ka-chan and To-chan that you're dating him…"

"I am not dating him!" I spat, "now, if you gals could get your heads out of the clouds, my _friend_ was probably gone enough trauma without you'll running your mouth about him…"

Their mouths opened, but after glancing at each other, they nodded.

"We're sorry…" they said in unison. I felt my mouth turn up a little.

"Good… now let's hope your loud mouths didn't travel to them… now, if you don't mind, I'm going over to take some juice to my _friend_…"

I walked off, but Keita wasn't done.

"Hey, get me some too!"

"You know where the fridge is, jerk!" I gave a wave before I entered the door where the adults, who were surely having much more serious conversation, were sitting. A snippet of conversation floated to my ears.

"…and that's how I broke my leg for the first time… that is how I learned that humans cannot fly…"

That was followed by laughter. While my uncle's booming laughter at his own story was the loudest, my mother and Prez were politely laughing as well.

As I came into view, I noted what the scene was like… Prez looked significantly better without the streaking blood on his face. He was sitting on one of the seats at the table, while my uncle was opposite him, a needle in his hand. The see-through string was glinting, which showed that it was definitely connected to Prez's face.

I gulped… that was a bit scary… and a bit gross too… you sew fabric, not limbs.

I quickly averted my eyes to Oka-san, who was sitting a few seats away, and thankfully, did not have any medical operations going on near her.

"Oka-san, I'm gonna bring some juice…" She nodded, so I gladly walked to the fridge, a little bit fearful of having to turn around and seeing that scene again. Filling five glasses would only give me so much of a reprieve.

When walking toward the table, I kept my eyes averted from the pile of bloody cotton balls piled on the table, or Prez's stitched up head, but I was still imagining it perfectly…

"Here… juice…" I put two glasses on the table, and backed away.

"Nee, Chihiro-san…" I stopped at Prez's voice, which sounded weirdly perky, considering what was happening, "we're telling some stories about how we injured ourselves in some funny ways… wanna add?"

"Though honestly, this boy's stories aren't that funny…" my uncle piped in. I could see why… abuse was never funny… My eyes focussed back on Prez against me will, but he was just pouting.

"Hey, I thought the rabbit story was pretty funny…" he smiled, "we used to have rabbits as pets, so I wanted to see the babies in the hole, so I climbed in… The mummy rabbit was not happy…"

I cringed sympathetically.

"How bad did it get?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Just a couple of scratches… and a black eye, because the mother headbutted me…" the matter-of-fact tone got a chuckle from my uncle, and even a slight laugh from Oka-san.

I felt my mouth curl up slightly, despite the fact that it must've been sore. But a rabbit jumping into his cute face… That must've been a sight to see.

"How old were you then, Yuki-kun?" My mother asked.

"About five…" he smiled, "but my mother gave me a handful of chocolate eclairs to keep me busy, while she cleaned my wounds…" his half-smile fell, and I felt my heart go out to him…

The poor guy ran away from home… talking about his family must not be easy… His face snapped up, as he flashed another smile at me, so convincing that I could have thought that he just didn't have those sad eyes on for that second.

"What about you, Chihiro-san… have you ever hurt yourself?" he asked. My eyes widened as I thought of an answer.

"Actually, a few years ago, Chihiro mistakenly ran onto a road, and got hit by a motorcycle…" my mother saved me from having to answer, but I wasn't happy at that answer…

Or rather, I didn't think I wanted to share it… it was hardly a secret, but it was one of those things I still didn't feel comfortable talking about… I was still nowhere close to getting over my fear of fast vehicles.

"Oh…" he looked at me curiously, "what was the damage?"

Broken ribs… PTSD… you know, the usual… I interjected before anyone could reply.

"Say, did you feel that earthquake earlier?" I asked, dodging the other question.

"Yeah, that was a pretty big one… Honoka had to hold down our dish cabinet, coz everything started shaking…" my uncle answered.

"I was still driving, so it wasn't too bad… though it broke that vase my mother-in-law gave me a few months ago… Such a pity…" my mother added.

"But you hate my mother's tastes…" my uncle retorted, staring down my mother.

"What, that vase was beautiful…"

"That's not what Nagi tol-"

I rolled my eyes, but when I looked back, Prez was staring at me. I looked away at the tray of drinks I hadn't finished serving.

"Well, I'll be off then…" I replied hurriedly, picking up the tray with such force that the juice sloshed over the edge.

"Actually, Chihiro, I'm done with him…" my uncle replied behind his back, "you guys can watch some TV while I find out the truth about that vase…" I sighed, turning around.

"'Kay… come, Prez…" I turned back, continuing back out of the door. I didn't say a word, but that was because I didn't have a clue. Those damn kids had made me feel uncomfortable about how I treated Prez normally, and those damn adults had dished a bit about me I didn't really want to share with Prez. Considering he had picked up that I'd evaded that question, I really hope he'd know not to ask about it…

Though, where are those guys?

"I hear some voices from there," Prez pointed at our rec room, inadvertently answering my question. I turned around, the drinks swished dangerously in their glasses.

"Yeah, that's probably them… you mind going in and giving these to them and I'll come a few. I just wanna change this shirt…"

"Alright…" I heard, "sorry for bleeding on it…" I shrugged, heading toward the stairs. I stopped on the first step, before looking over the banister at Prez.

"By the way, the other guy is our cousin, Keita… ignore him if he bothers you…" Prez smiled.

"I'll keep that warning in mind…"

With that, I took the stairs two at a time. I wasn't excited, but I really needed the space to breathe without my throat knotting as if it was trying to strangle me, or my heart trying to detach itself from my body… Gaah! What is wrong with me!?

I went to go wash my face, but looking into a mirror felt weirder than ever… was that seriously me? My face was more flushed than usual, my eyes wider and shinier… and what the hell was my hair even doing?

As I moved my arms to on the tap, I noticed the pink streaks on my right arm… then the slight scabbing of that elbow… when I'd fallen off the bike…

I groaned loudly… which damn person thinks they're gonna die when the fall off a bike? If I'd kept my cool, the bike wouldn't even have fallen and I wouldn't have had to throw my arms out to stop Chitose from getting hurt…

Then there's also Prez… since he hugged me this afternoon, I just don't know how I feel… from the start, he's always been that kind of person who I don't feel awkward around, nor do I have to watch what I say… but today if just completely different than usual… and Prez's entire life just changed completely… what am I doing thinking about this when there's other things I should be thinking about… like what Prez could do…or what I could do to be a good host… or convincing my parents to adopt Prez…

Haha, as if… then my crush would be even creepier…

I said crush, didn't I?

Clearly this face washing wasn't working… I ended up just shoving my head under the cold faucet for a couple of seconds and traipsing off to my room (leaving a water trail, nonetheless) to find a new shirt… preferably long sleeves so no one would notice how scraped up my arm is… even more preferable is if it doubled as an invisibility cloak.

But my wish didn't work… when I stepped into the rec room three pairs of eyes turned to me, one from the couch and two from the floor, two feet away from the TV…

"Did you take a shower?" Prez asked. I scoffed, but didn't say anything.

Though it was completely understandable why he'd jumped to that conclusion… shorts just look weird with a full length shirt, so I'd changed that into a plain skirt… plus, my hair was only a few droplets from dripping wet, so I'd combed it back and left it.

So what, we're gonna see TV now, right? I could just do that in my room, but whatever…

On the TV, however, was a couple of speeding cars… I felt my heart clench.

"Get off the road if you're not taking this seriously!" Keita yelled, a loud screeching sound coming from the TV… I cringed visibly, my sides starting to ache.

It's just a game… I tried to reassure myself, but the realistic graphics and the roaring of the engine made it feel a lot more… scary… terrifying…

"C-can't we watch some TV?" I asked, but my voice was betraying the wreck my brain was getting toward… I kept my eyes well away from the screen, but Prez wasn't significantly easier to look at, with the freshly stitched up skin on his face.

"Sorry… these guys insisted they wanted to play, and the winner gets to play against me…" Prez spoke from the couch, "I told them it'd be fun…"

I gnashed my teeth together. I really could argue, but if Prez wanted this, what could I even say? Oka-san always told me to be a gracious host…

Wait, I should talk to Oka-san… but she'd be fighting with her husband's brother right about now…

The horrible grinding filled my ears, which strengthened my resolve to get the hell out of here before one of those crazy machines comes out of the screen and steamrolls me!

"A-alright, that'll be… fun!" I spoke, seriously hoping my voice sounded better than what my brain was producing, "y-you guys play nice… I need to talk with my mother for a bit…"

"Should I come with you?" Prez asked. I didn't like having to stop, but I did.

"Nah! You have fun here!" Before he could reply, I was out of the room, catching my breath… with how much I'm sweating, and how empty my lungs felt, I may have just finished a marathon…

Somehow, my shaking legs took me to the kitchen to rehydrate myself, but as I plopped myself onto a chair with a glass of cold water, shame settled into my stomach… at a time like this, I should be finding out what I could do for Prez, or at least making sure he's comfortable and having a good time here… instead, I'm alone, being scared of a kids' game… how pathetic…

From a few feet away, I heard a phone beep. It was my phone, sitting on the table… when did I even get to put my phone down here?

I just shrugged and reached out to it, using the tips of my fingers to nudge it toward me. It was damn far, though…

It was a text message… from Babe?

When I opened it, it was a MMS of a cat hugging a dog with a caption 'friendship transcends species as well'

It got a smile out of me, which was a good sign. I'd probably be better soon enough. I could spare some time chatting.

"friendship is weird… you don't even need to meet the person to be friends." I replied back.

It is weird… my world is in a completely different place from where it was at this time last night… Prez was in my house, having run away from something I couldn't even imagine… I have never even mentioned this guy to my family, now he's playing racing games with them…

And yet, the feeling of staring at my phone, waiting for a reply… why can something feel so familiar, yet be around the same time where nothing is the same?

Not to mention, how I actually met him was pretty weird too… you don't really make friends with random guys you confess to… but from day one, he'd just had this kind of atmosphere that just made me relax and actually want to stay there longer… like home…

It's all good and well saying Prez ran away from home, but in the end, what good is a shelter where you're abused for being yourself… that's not a home!

Has he even got a home? I felt myself tear up at that thought, wondering why the world would be so damn unfair to him…

My phone beeped again.

"Yeah, exactly… just the fact I wanted to message cat pictures to you is proof enough…" I smiled, but that last message wasn't as effective as before… I was still feeling bad about Prez, after all…

With Babe, he messaged every couple of days… why that was was still a mystery, especially coz he'd first used me as a go between him and Shinji-kun, but now, it was barely about that… Literally, we were at that point where I dropped the text speak altogether, because it was a bother…

So he considers me a friend… that's nice to hear..,

Friendship is important… which is why I need to focus on the friend I have here… while I can't fix his home, I can make him one here… one place he knows that he's loved and cared for…

I quickly scrolled through my phone for another cat picture to send… Nee-san made it pretty simple, considering how many she sends…

Sorry, Babe… I can't stay and chat now, but enjoy the picture… I've got some convincing to do.

With all selfish thought out of my head, I walked out to find my mother. I figured she'd be in out dining room, because that was where that jar, which I knew my mother hated, was at. Sure enough, it was in a dustpan on the floor, and my mother was on one of the chairs, staring down my uncle, who was seated on the other side of the table.

"You know, it isn't that odd that the jar was the only thing that fell in our house during that time…" Oka-san said, casually.

"Oh really… have you been babyproofing the house so nothing else falls then?" My uncle countered.

Not to say that this was a completely unfamiliar sight… I rolled my eyes and interrupted the absurd argument…

"Nee… Oka-san…" I spoke, "can I talk to you for a bit?"

From the way she reacted, she hadn't seen me come in.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you as well… this is about your friend, right?" I nodded

"I just wanted to know… what can we do for him?" I asked, my voice shaking. My mother laughed.

"You don't have to be so nervous, you know?" she replied. Me... Nervous? No way... It wasn't like my mother had the power to kick him out of the house, or anything.

Who am I kidding... this is worse than asking for that guitar... I purposely went and took someone's life into my hands and brought them into my parents house. The only good thing is that my mother knew about it from the get go, coz God knows what would have happened had I tried to sneak him into the house.

"Alright," I took a deep breath, "would it be fine if he stayed here for a bit... like until he can find a proper place to stay and a way to support himself..."

God, asking my mother to buy a grand piano would've been easier than this... No matter how I think about it, this is basically a temporary adoption... and my mother loves her finances.

But in the end, my mother has been a good sport so far... Maybe what I'm asking won't be so much of a stretch. Oka-san glanced up at the other occupied seat.

"Actually... Nobuhiko-san..." she addressed my uncle, "would you mind ordering some dinner for delivery..."

That was both a relief and new source of anxiety that my mother wanted to talk to me alone.

"Alright... do you have anything in mind?" my uncle replied.

"Anything will be fine..." Oka-san replied firmly. Considering the time it took him to slowly get out of the chair, mumbling the different kind of foods that can be delivered, I guess he missed the cue that my mother wanted him out.

That denseness actually makes me happy... between Prez and my brother, I'm a bit worried I can't keep my thoughts quiet in this house. Thank you, Oji-san...

"You can sit down, Chihiro..." my mother said, once the door closed behind us. I dutifully did, with my eyes focused anywhere but my mother's face, "though what are you expecting my answer to be?"

I cringed... this wasn't the first time she's asked me this, and more often than not, if I actually speak the truth here, I'll make her angrier.

The trick behind this question is to be hopeful, yet not too much... It's a difficult balance, but if you answer this right, she becomes significantly nicer for the rest of the conversation.

Think hopeful... and don't hesitate... maybe it'd be better to just explain what I know so my mother can be more sympathetic.

"I think... you'll say yes..." I replied. Despite that being such a short sentence, it came out with a lot more difficulty than it should have.

"He did run away from home, though... so he must have some contingency plan..."

While that was a perfectly reasonable thought for my mother to have, the use of the h-word bothered me.

"That wasn't his home..." my voice was raised, which wasn't helping my case, but I couldn't stop it, "at that place, his own family would hurt him because he was different... You saw that wound..."

"Who gave it to him?" my mother asked. So she didn't ask him about it while he was getting stitched up?

"It was his father..."

The room fell into silence. I was back to being disgusted and outraged, and from the look on my mother's face, she was clearly joining me.

"Chihiro... Can you tell me more about that boy?" I nodded.

"He's a third year, and the president of the student council. He has really good grades, and he's no slouch in the athletics department either. He's fairly popular and he's a good listener as well..."

"So he's the perfect student..." Oka-san concluded, which I agreed with, "he seems awfully normal for a kid who has that kind of life... doesn't he have any flaws, or anything?"

My mother actually makes a really good point here... He's cute, smart, athletic and easy to talk to. While he doesn't really joke, he's still very friendly and he makes you feel welcome from the get go... so what is it that makes him human?

Then, from the back of my mind, I remembered what made me want to talk to him... The first day I left his office, I remembered his lonely face as he was closing up the room. While I didn't know what to say to him, I remember that I wanted to come back and chat some more, so he wouldn't need to be lonely anymore.

_"I was lying before..."_

_"I get colds often, so I have to dress warmly..."_

"He isn't honest..." I replied, summing it all down, "he doesn't talk about himself, and when he does, he lies about it..."

I felt myself get sad again. From the first day, there were signs that something was up... So much for me being perceptive... my head fell into my hands.

"I screwed up big, not picking up all the things he didn't say..."

"No one can fault you, Chihiro..." I heard my mother's voice, much softer than I've ever heard it. By the hand that started patting my shoulder awkwardly, I think my mother was trying to comfort me. That sentiment just made me want to cry more.

"But... but... if I'd noticed sooner, this could have been avoided, and it never would have escalated so far..." I replied, but my voice was breaking and my hands were muffling me, so God knows how much reached her.

"You're a good kid, Chihiro..." she replied, which wasn't the kind of compliment I wanted to hear. Her hand fell off my shoulder.

"So I'll do whatever you say..."

I separated my fingers so I could see if it wasn't my ears messing with me... Oka-san... agreed?

"He can stay?" I asked, my voice filled with hope.

"Indefinitely, he can be a member of this family..." my mother spoke, "even if he wasn't such a treasured friend of yours, I'm just glad he's out of his own house... No child deserves to live like that..."

And then I threw my arms around that beautiful woman I call my mother. Despite my doubts and gripes, I was so glad that my mother understood. I was really worried that she'd hold onto the fact that Prez left the house on his own accord.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you-"

"You can stop now, Chihiro..." I let go abruptly, before I started testing her patience. In any case, I should tell Prez the good news.

"Though one second, " I paused, "You two are definitely friends, right?"

"Yeah..." I replied, confused. Did she think I'd get this emotional over an acquaintance?

"Nothing more, right?" she clarified. Suddenly, I saw where this was going.

"Nothing more..." I agreed. I could see why my parents would have a problem if it wasn't the case, but Chitose's claims had more to ground them. Why would she ask this?

"Good," she smiled, "just, with you two being opposite genders, it is something I have to consider. I want no hanky panky in this house, alright?"

"Got it!" I nodded vigorously to stop what thought she was implying from sticking to my head, "You don't need to worry... he definitely doesn't like me like that..."

Man, I hope she didn't notice the precise wording I used. I'd mention that he doesn't like any girls like that, but it wasn't my place to say...

"Very good... Though please wait till your father comes home before you talk to him. I know he'll be worried about the gender thing as well. I'll try to convince him as well, so just wait a little bit.

"Sure," I agreed, "I guess I'll go keep Prez company with Chitose and Keita..."

"You go do that..." she replied, before smirking, "and you should probably clear up your relationship with Yuki-kun as well..."

I blanched... please let her be speaking generally and not because she heard those loudmouths through the door earlier.

"Yes, I did hear them through the door... And I'm sure the neighbours heard them too..."

I groaned... this is really bad!

"I have no issue if you're really going out with him, but I want nothing to happen under this roof..."

I really wanted to refute that, but if she had heard through the door, and she had seen us near home, there's no denying what she had seen. Literally, the only reasoning to get me out of this situation is one I didn't have the right to use. Gah!

I stomped off, angry and embarrassed, into the rec room. While I couldn't force him, I really hoped he would just tell everyone so they'd stop making snide remarks...

Oh shit, the game! I quickly glanced up, and the TV was on to some channel. Everyone was sitting on the couch as well, which just showed that game time was over...

"What happened to your game?" I asked.

"Your boyfriend sucks at racing games..." Keita replied simply. Prez laughed and elbowed Keita.

"That was your fault, you know... You could have taught me the controls before giving my the joystick..."

Dude, reply to the other thing! Keeping up that misconception will only make it harder for me... and you by extension.

"Well, even if he has no racing game, he did score in something else..." Chitose added pointedly.

"Prez, can you please correct them," I request firmly. When he turned to look at me, I'm sure he could see I was dead serious.

"Do I have to, Chihiro-san?" he whined. I got this feeling, all of a sudden, like I was asking Chitose to set the dishes, or something. He actually was getting along with my family quite well.

"Fiiiinnne... I'll do it..." I sighed and indicated between us, "me and him... not dating..." Keita and Chitose looked between themselves and laughed.

"Right, you keep telling yourself that..."

"You honestly take us for fools, huh, Chihiro?" I looked helplessly at Prez, who now had a frown on his face.

"Please..." I mouth. Prez sighed.

"I'm only going to say this once..." he agreed, and I nodded gratefully. He stood up and walked to the front of the TV to turn down the volume.

"Oi!"

"Look, I told Chihiro-san I'd tell you the truth, so here it is... we are actually just friends..."

Chitose and Keita nodded again.

"Sure, the kind of friends who hug all the way home..." Chitose remarked.

"Exactly... the kind of friends who you shouldn't leave alone without supervision," Keita added in the same bored, disbelieving tone. Prez opened his mouth again, just as the door opened.

"Kids, I hope you like Pizza, because that is what your uncle decided to order..."

"Hey, you said 'anything'!" My uncle retorted.

"I'm gay!" Prez half-shouted, his face turning pink. Then he turned around and noticed the newcomers by the door.

The room fell into complete silence, save for the slight sounds of the TV. Prez was looking more and more mortified by the second.

"Uh... Umm..." he tried to get out, but his eyes were stuck on my uncle's and his flushed face was draining of colour. My uncle smiled.

"Hi gay... I'm uncle..." he said, completely deadpan. The laughter slowly began, from Chitose and me, then Keita... Even my mother was smiling.

"Well kids, there is your answer... now I need to go find some cash to pay for dinner..." my mother smiled and walked back out. My uncle shrugged and followed her.

Prez turned back to us, his face completely unreadable.

"Were you worried how they'd react?" I asked. Prez nodded wordlessly, as his eyes began to tear up.

"Th-this is the first time... anyone's ever been so nice about it..." Then the tears started slipping down his cheeks. They were happy tears, which only made me more mad that a simple thing like this made him so happy... what the hell was his family doing?

Making his life a living hell, apparently...

"Dude, come back on the couch already..." Keita replied in a tone just as nonchalant as his father.

"Sorry, we'll stop with the quips now," Chitose apologized to me.

So for the next fifteen minutes till dinner came, we watched TV... Prez sprawled on the floor, my brother and cousin on the couch, and me on the armrest. We made some jibes at the movie we were watching, but that was it... that was all there was to it.

I seriously must have the best family in the world.

* * *

**This chapter is kinda a mixed bag... there's some happy stuff, some sad stuff, some worrying stuff... even a few doki doki stuff here and there.**

**The only thing I'm missing is friggin' canon stuff... seriously, Chihiro is the only person from the manga to actually appear in this chapter. I did try to keep that little detail of the earthquake that happened near the start of Tenri's arc in the manga, but in the end, it just turned into more of a reminder that Chihiro is still not okay with most vehicles.**

**And of course, now we know a little about Prez... his family situation will be explained more in the next chapter, but I was glad how that last scene turned out... considering the shit he's gone through, he's long overdue for a potato session in front of the TV, with people who actually do care for his well being.**

**Now, I'm sure most of you are wondering how this genre shift fits into this kind of story... and the truth is, things can suddenly change in your life, and it changes the tone of your life completely. I know that as well as anyone... you may be doing the same thing you always do, but it'll never feel the same... for better or for worse, that is life...**

**So there you have it... next chapter should be more relaxed, and should include more manga references.**

**By the way, I'll be updating DMT in a few days, but it'll be a double issue... I've procrastinated enough with that.**

**Until then, live on!**


	12. Maybe I should've just slept

**80 fricken days... apparently that is how long it takes me to get my shit together in regards to this story.**

**After this, I do have two more chapters, but I'll pace myself and post them within the week, which'll give me time to continue writing this arc, so I can finally finish it.**

**In any case, I hope you like this, and it'll keep you sated till my next chapter.**

* * *

I was at a loss to what to do… Since I started playing guitar, I'd made sure my nails were short, but now all I wanted to do was bite them.

I wanted to go back downstairs… What was I thinking, leaving Prez to talk to my parents alone? As I stood up, Prez's face came back to my mind, just before I left him. It was pretty clear from his knitted eyes that he didn't want me there.

"Geez!" I yelled, throwing myself onto my bed. The cool bed did help my irritation, but I still wasn't happy… it'd already been twenty minutes… why was this taking so long?

Through my annoyed caterpillar imitation on my comforter, I heard knocking.

"Chihiro-san, can I come in?" I sat up.

"Y-yeah… go ahead," I called back. The door opened and Prez hesitatingly walked in, his eyes on the floor, "so what were you talking about with my parents?" He shrugged, but his eyes didn't leave the floor.

"Nothing in particular… I just explained the situation, and how I was planning to proceed from here…" he cleared his throat, "although your mother is calling you."

I ignored that last part, scuttling to my pillow.

"Ok, want to enlighten me as well…" I patted the bed so he'd sit down as well. He pulled a face.

"I'll tell you… talk to your mother first…" I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, but I'd rather hear it from you…" When Prez hesitated, I leaned off my bed and pulled him next to me, "now, can you tell me what's happening?"

Prez still didn't look up, but now that I was looking at him properly, his face was glowing pink. I let go of his sleeve, putting some distance between us. Besides, the sudden pick up of speed in my heart felt so obvious it might travel through my fingers if I touched him.

Surely… he didn't figure out anything, right?

"O-oi, w-what's gotten into you?" I asked, but there was no making my voice casual with that question… not to mention that I was starting to get flustered myself.

I bet that jerk Chitose said something weird to him on his way… I'll kill him!

"I-it's nothing… J-just, I've never been in a girl's room before, let alone on her bed…" I looked up, and his face seemed to have gotten even pinker. That was seriously all?

I was actually worried here!

"If you're gonna be such a girl about it, go sit at my desk…" I said with a complete deadpan tone. Maybe it was the tone or the face, but he laughed slightly. The nervousness had yet to leave his face.

"Don't you feel nervous?" he asked.

Maybe for a different reason…

"Coz you're in my room? As if…" I rolled my eyes, but as a precaution, I put as much distance between us as the bed allowed, so my head was casually on the headboard, "there's nothing here that embarrasses me…"

"But have you even had any guy here?" he asked. I shook my head honestly.

Wait, though didn't I think my room was too childish before… but it's Prez… And he's actually looking at me seriously now.

"So it doesn't bother you that I'm here?" he asked once more. I half-smiled.

"True, you are the first male outside of my family here, but I invited you to my house. I'm not going to be bothered if you come inside my room… now, please tell me what you were discussing with my parents, or I'll be forced to kill you."

Prez snickered at that, but his face sobered up before he started talking.

"I explained my situation, and they offered to put up with me for however long I need…" he paused.

"And…"

"I accepted their offer till Monday. The school will open its gates for club activities then, so I can get my stuff and go find a place to stay…"

I frowned… that was barely any time… like one weekend… even if he spent all that time planning, there's no way he'd be ready to take on the world after three nights…

"Are yo-"

"I'm sure…" he completed the sentence he hadn't let me get out, "I'm near certain my father won't tell anyone I ran away, because I'm supposed to move these holidays, but if it does come out, I don't want you or your family involved in what was my decision."

I hugged my legs to my chest unhappily. As much as I hated it, I could understand why he'd want to do things like that. He was really brave in making that leap.

"Man, I can't imagine what I'd do if I was in your place…" I commented, and Prez nodded slowly, "though what's your pl-"

"You know your mother is still calling you…" he interrupted again. I sighed. He was probably feeling uncomfortable being in my room that he needed to remind me again.

"Fine…" I muttered, climbing off the bed, "so you're coming as well, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

Five minutes later, I was in Nee-san's room, a broom in my hand, while Prez had a duster and bug spray in his.

"I told your mother I didn't mind sharing, but she insisted on this room…" he remarked. My mother trailed in behind us, the weight of the water filled bucket delaying her.

"It was the best option," Oka-san replied, "there was no way I would allow you to share with my daughter, and Chitose is a slob, so you wouldn't even fit there…"

"This guy barely made it five minutes in my room…" I mumbled. As much of a bother this was, my mother had a very good point there.

"In any case, it's ten already, so today, we'll only focus in making this place liveable, and so Yuki-kun doesn't get bitten to death by bugs… we'll focus on removing Chihiro's magazines tomorrow."

"Chitose's and Oto-san have things here as well, you know…" I responded, my tone a touch too angry to be considered deadpan.

"Sure sure…" she replied dismissively, "Now let's get cleaning…"

As tedious as sweeping and piling the books were, Oka-san took the opportunity to continue finding more about Prez, with me occasionally quipping in, but it was actually quite interesting to listen to. It was mostly general questions that I may or may not have known or cared about, but my mother actually asked a very bold question which froze me.

"Yuki-kun, do you have a boyfriend… or someone that you like…" I turned to look at him. His eyes were determinedly on my mother's face.

"I do…" he said clearly. I nodded before my eyes snapped open. He did?

"Who!?" I asked, but the tone made it sound more like I was demanding an answer. Just, I hadn't expected that… considering he'd been so secretive about the whole thing, I really doubted he'd be taken…

God, the guy I might be crushing on is gay, and not even single… I had to stop myself before I faceplanted into the dust in front of me.

"You didn't know about this?" my mother asked. Heck, I didn't even know this guy was into guys this morning… I had an inkling, but honestly, the amount I learnt about Prez today was insane… and it make me more frustrated that I didn't have a clue of any of this last night.

"I've never mentioned it to Chihiro-san… but yeah, he's my neighbour and childhood friend, and I've liked him since I can remember…" a gentle smile came on his face, and that actually made me both happy and sad. This person was clearly someone precious to him, and he had someone like that so close to home… but it was the home he couldn't return to anymore.

"So… are you guys going out or are you friends?" I asked, but that only caused the smile to fall. He picked that up, because he attempted to smile again.

"We're in a weird place… he knows how I feel and he's told me as well… but with the situation with my father, we haven't hung out alone in ages… so I don't know…" his face screwed up, but I did not expect him to start crying, "I-I d-didn't even get to say goodbye…"

I don't know whether it was my mother's kindness, or whether it was just plain awkwardness, but she gave me a nod and quietly left. I was grateful and a little annoyed, because she was the one who'd mentioned it in the first place… though not to say I wasn't happy that I'd gotten that information.

I slowly walked to him and rubbed his back.

"Do you… want to call him? I'll lend you my cellphone…" Prez sniffled and rubbed his eyes. Not to say he was better, but he was at least trying.

"I can't… he doesn't know anything of what's happening in my house, and telling him I ran away would only make him mad…" he groaned, "you probably think I'm being stupid here… or lame…"

"That's the last thing I'm thinking," I replied, my eyes trailing off toward the jagged stitches off the side of his eyes before wincing, "in fact, you're pretty damn cool… chicks dig scars…"

He laughed, straightening up.

"Well, I'm not into that, but thanks…" he smiled, "you're a good friend, Chihiro-san…" I nodded smugly.

"As your friend, I'll tell you that no one will find the thing hanging off your nose attractive, so you should blow your nose," That only got a bigger laugh from him.

After that, we got the last of the mess cleaned, the futon spread on the floor and Prez into it. I could only imagine how long this day was him… for me, it feels like it's been months already.

"So, if you need me, you know where my room is… feel free to bother me there-"

"Chihiro-san," I stopped turning to leave, "I'm surprised you're not grilling me for more details…"

"There's a time and place for everything…" I replied looking at him pull his body into a sitting position on the pillow, "that just didn't feel like it was it…"

"How about now?" he asked. Considering the alert look on his face and the fact he was sitting, he seemed to want to talk now. I made myself comfortable on the floor.

"Okay, if you want, we can tell me more about him…" his face brightened.

"Thanks… I've never gotten to talk to him with anyone before…" he had that excited smile of a kid in the candy aisle of a convenience store, "so, where do I begin…"

As I watched his mouth move excitedly, it brought up a somewhat sad thought… I'd always taken Prez to be a good listener, but maybe he'd been hoping for someone to be curious about him. Talking about love can be exciting… though only when you're not avoiding it, like me.

Oh shit, I'm zoning out again.

"You zoned out on me, didn't you?" he asked. When I reluctantly nodded, he laughed it off and started again.

"So, as I said, his name's Dani… he's a year older than me, and he graduated from Maijima last year… he's an idiot, and is dense as concrete…" I laughed, and he joined, "heck, I had to confess to him at least four times before he got that I wasn't talking about friendship… and that was only because I kissed him."

I raised an eyebrow… that was pretty bold of him.

"Though how did he react after that?"

"We didn't talk about that for a while…" he replied, fiddling with his thumbs, "our friendship was mostly the same, but I could tell there were moments things got awkward… It was one of those moments when I lost it and just demanded he reject me properly…"

"And did he?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Before I could march off, he told me about all the things he loved… things like watermelon in Summer… football… junk food… basketball… video games… and me," that happy smile started coming back to his face, which made my stomach feel weird… like butterflies, except with the ferocity made it feel more like bats.

"Of course, it was my turn to be dense… because of that whole list, I assumed it to be that he only didn't want to lose me as a friend, so I ditched the confession altogether and just continued as usual. When he figured that out, he kicked my ass…" he laughed, "since then, which was about half way through middle school, we've had an understanding on that…"

Maybe it was that story… or maybe it was the look on his face, but I felt very happy hearing it. It was a really cute story, even if it involved him getting his ass handed to him by his crush.

But in the end, a small part of me knew this wasn't a happy story… I had no clue if anything had changed in the four years since then, and considering he was here telling me about it, there's no guarantee the story would even continue.

It's no Romeo and Juliet, but there was plenty that was keeping them apart that had nothing to do with feuding families… At this point, I think I hated Prez's bastard father more than I did after finding about that cut, and that surprised me.

"You look like you want to say something…" Prez noted from my expression.

"Did you guys get any closer since you first started dating?" I asked. He held up his hands to stop me there.

"We never did start dating. We did hang out a lot, but it was never for date-like stuff…"

"Then what was the point of him kicking your ass if he didn't want to actually do anything more couple-like!?"

"Like I said, we reached more of an understanding… with the situation with my family, and the fact that he didn't consider himself to be gay or bisexual, we were very limited with what we could do… however, we have held hands and hugged and kissed, so it wasn't like we never got closer…"

"Though what do you mean 'he didn't consider himself gay or bisexual'… how does he even like you if he is neither of those?" he laughed at the confused look on my face.

"As he puts it 'If it's you, it's okay'… he doesn't claim to be straight either, so I guess he considers labelling it to be bothersome…" he snickered, "that's how I've considered it, anyway…"

"Though you've said he was your neighbour… how do you think he'll take it that you ran away?" Prez's face fell and he pulled up the blanket to his shoulder.

"I don't know… Oyaji won't tell him, and I doubt Koori, my little sister, will tell him either… He knew I was moving, so he won't be too surprised that he can't see me… hopefully in a week, I'll have a new phone so I'll contact him…"

That thought must've made him happy… He yawned.

"Ok, that sounds like a plan…" I nodded, "so I'm guessing you want to go sleep now?"

"Yeah, that may be for the best…" he stretched before lowering himself back to a lying position, "It's been a long day…"

"I can only imagine…" I sighed before getting up, "I guess I'll call it too."

"Though one last thing, Chihiro-san?"

"Hmm…"

"Thank you so much for all you've done for me today… I never did want to bother anyone, but in a way, I'm glad you found me… I think we grew closer, and that makes me happy…"

"I'm glad," I gave as an answer, "I got to learn a lot about you, and I think you're even more admirable than I thought…"

Whether that made me happy or not was still being debated by the furthest part of my brain.

"I get that as well…" he smiled, "from what I've learnt about you, you're pretty amazing too."

"Thanks," I nodded, "now I'm closing the door, so you go sleep as well…"

"I will…" he rolled over so his head was facing away from me and the door, "but tomorrow, tell me why you've been holding back…"

I felt myself stop breathing for a second before I found my voice.

"I-I'm not…" I replied, obviously very convincingly, "but I'll see you tomorrow…"

I let myself out and shut the door with more force than I should have, but I was freaking out. What did he think I was holding back on? What could I even tell him in regards to that?

There was a reason I wasn't fangirling over that story… as heart-pounding and moving that story was, there was the bitter edge over it from the lack of resolution… then there was the feeling I didn't want to think about myself.

I pressed my head against the wall in annoyance.

Man, I'm gonna be up all night thinking about it, and I know that when I get up, I'm not gonna be anywhere closer to an answer.

Screw this!

Before my thoughts could catch up with me, I threw open the door of my sister's room, slammed the light switch and was back on the floor again, half-shoving Prez awake.

"C-Chihiro-san?" he muttered, blinking. I felt bad that he had fallen asleep, but I couldn't go back on it now… especially that I'm worked up now.

"I'm not going to lose sleep over this… now you tell me what you think I'm holding back and I'll explain…" I plopped myself on the ground noisily.

"Okay…" he yawned, pulling himself up, "I just wanted to know why you didn't tell anyone about how much that game freaked you out…"

It took a moment to remind myself what he was referring to when it clicked. That racing game Chitose and Keita had been playing.

"Y-ya noticed that, huh?" I said stupidly, as if he hadn't pointed that out already.

"It wasn't that obvious, but yes… your eyes kept twitching towards the screen and your body seemed completely frozen save for when you forced yourself to walk…"

"Okay, you weren't wrong about that…" I sighed. At least he didn't figure out anything else.

"I thought I was imagining it until I remembered what your uncle had said about an accident, and I pieced that they may have linked…"

I felt my fringe fall over my eyes.

"Your observation skills have no bounds, do they?"

"S-sorry… it's the way I've always been…" he apologized, "but these kind of human traits have always interested me…"

"Human weakness…" I corrected, my even tone even throwing me off, "that isn't a trait, but rather something I have and would rather not share, because it's embarrassing that I still haven't overcome that yet…"

"Actually," Prez interjected, "it is a trait, and even if it does limit you, it doesn't mean you should consider it a weakness and hate that part of yourself…"

"I got scared of a freaking video game! I can't stand scraping or squealing sounds, and God knows what would happen if someone actually put me in a car…" I looked up, my eyes suddenly on fire, "how the hell do you not consider that pitiful?"

It wasn't fire or sparks that came out of my eyes… just burning hot tears.

A warm palm landed on my hair, pushing my head down with the weight.

"I knew I was right bringing that up…" he muttered, his hand rubbing my hair, "Chihiro-san, you know you can't beat yourself up over something like this… this flaw of yours is just one small facet which makes up a very complex person… I would never look down on you for that, nor would Keita-kun or Chitose-kun… That is exactly why you don't need to freak out over it, and you can tell them to turn it off…"

I laughed shortly.

"Keita would definitely make fun of me…" I scoffed.

"Well, he may just be a jerk then…" Prez laughed, "in any case, I will speak for myself and tell you that I found it to be a very endearing trait…" his hand fell off my head and I could look up again with mostly clear eyes, "for me, you've always faced everything head on without much hesitation… it's a relief to see that even you have a few things that you turn your head away from…"

While I wondered what drugs he was smoking to make that kind of misguided remark, he lifted my chin so I was facing him. Just about every body function I had posed for a moment before starting in overtime.

"Now chin up… you're a great person and I don't want you to forget that… just because there's an aspect to yourself you don't like, it doesn't make it any less a part of you…" he smiled boyishly, and I pulled back so fast I landed on my bum. I had to get away though, before my body caught up with my brain.

"Thank you, and I will keep that in mind…" I choked out, making my quick getaway outside the door.

"Chihiro-saan, you forgot the lights…"

I slipped my arm in and shut it off without needing to stick my body in.

"Goodnight…" he called, but I couldn't reply. I just marched into the bathroom, glad that no one was around to see my flaming head.

"That bastard," I muttered into the mirror at my flaming face, "for a smart guy, he really doesn't get where to stop…"

As I trailed off to bed, I wondered if I got myself involved in something really bothersome for my peace of mind.

I fell asleep easily enough…

* * *

Some time later, I heard my name, which had me bolt straight out of bed and on my bedside lamp.

Prez was sitting at my desk, an embarrassed look on his face.

"Sorry... I was having night terrors…" he raised his hands in apology. Well, at least he wasn't freaking out about the whole being in a girl's room thing. He must have been really disturbed if he didn't let his natural awkwardness stop him from coming here.

I glanced up at that wound I probably would never get used to… the stitches did not make it look any less horrifying.

"Oh well…" I scratched my head, my eyes shifting to the less disturbing lamp on my study desk, "there's no helping it. Go bring your futon here…" he smiled and dashed off. As bad of a position I keep putting myself in emotionally, I couldn't say no…not when his reality is as bad as my nightmares.

* * *

**Well, there ya have it...Prez continues making it harder and harder for Chihiro... in any case, things will be a bit more relaxed next chapter, hopefully.**

**Till then, please review and tell me what you think. Bye bye**


	13. Maybe I'll go out for a bit

I blearily looked at the mirror in the bathroom when I woke up… God, I look like a wreck.

It was odd, because I slept more than I would have on a school night… I think it had to do with how restless quality of that sleep due to the new roommate I'd gained in the early hours of this morning.

I had to hand it to him… Prez was really trying to sleep, but from his tossing and turning, it was obviously not successful. I gave him five minutes before I asked if he wanted to talk for a little bit.

And he did… that sentence turned into an hour long conversation. He steered clear from what was bothering him, like his nightmares or his father, but he gladly chatted about the other stuff… what boys he considered cute from the Soccer Club… about his friends and my friends… about Katsuragi…

Not to say Prez is very quiet, but I think I managed to break whatever lock was holding him back, because unlike what conversation we used to have in the Student Council Room, he was more readily giving more information about himself… he did briefly mention Dani, his somewhat boyfriend… he told me about the kind of TV shows he watched and what music he liked.

I frowned into the mirror. Could it be he didn't consider me a proper friend until last night?

I ran both hands through my already messed up hair as frustration started tinting my mostly happy thoughts. Even though he'd opened up somewhat, this was nowhere near enough… I still wanted to know more…

No, stop with the selfish thoughts, Chihiro!

I slapped both my cheeks hard, but the redness I could see come to them weren't just from the stinging sensation from my fingers.

Though, in my defence, a decent amount of my curiosities had to do with that I'd discovered yesterday. I wanted to know more about Dani and Prez's sister. I wanted to know why Prez considered it so important to stay silent. I wanted to know how Prez got through his whole life to get here.

And I want to know why I want to know all this so much. I've liked Katsuragi for so long, yet it never manifested like this at all… or maybe, I just never had the guts to find about Katsuragi at all, so I just held onto the few words we had exchanged.

"Geez!" I yelled, turning on the tap to full blast and shoving my head under it. There is seriously something very wrong with me.

I didn't feel particularly better with that blast of water, but it was enough to motivate me out of my pyjamas and into some clothes I pulled out of my cupboard. God knows if they matched though.

The same sentiment hadn't reached Chitose, who was chewing on a bowl full of rice thoughtfully in his soccer ball PJs.

"Yo…" I greeted. He gave a slight nod.

"Ah, Chihiro…" a female voice came from the right, "good timing… do you think you could help hang these up?"

Turning around, she had a whole basket of newly washed clothes, which she dumped into my arms. I was surprised I didn't drop it.

"Good morning, Chihiro-san…" Prez's voice came from behind her.

"Morning…" my eyes drifted, first to the ragged stitches on his forehead, then to the basket he was holding, "so you helped too, huh?"

It was my mother who answered.

"Indeed he did… that saved a lot of time for me…" she nodded approvingly before casting a distasteful eye at Chitose, who was still in his pyjamas and playing with his chopsticks lazily. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure where her head was going.

"It was some of my clothes too," Prez replied, his eyes respectfully low, "it was really nothing."

"Nonsense… my boy doesn't even know where the laundry room is…" she laughed, her eyes falling on me, "though Chihiro, are you certain you don't want to marry him? You would not believe the magic he did in his room this morning…"

"Oka-saaan…" I shook my hands at her hammily, "he doesn't like girls…"

True, the hamminess was to hide my embarrassment, but it was fine. Prez laughed.

"That's sweet of you to say, Kosaka-san…" he shifted the basket, "Chihiro-san isn't interested in me like that either…"

I sighed in relief that that line didn't make anything awkward… though with Prez, nothing really does…

"Oh yeah, she likes… Katsuragi-kun… was it?"

My mother's innocent words caused Chitose to start coughing and Prez to fumble on his basket. I just looked at my mother in shock before her words caught up with me.

"W-what?" I asked. My mother shrugged.

"His name is all over those guitar notes in your room…"

Prez was staring at me intently, and I averted my eyes back to my mother, who I could tell, was definitely hiding a smirk behind her poker face.

"Chitose wrote that!" I retorted, shooting a dirty glare at him. He rolled his eyes and went back to sipping his miso soup.

"Now, there's no reason to continue making excuses, Chihiro… if anything, maybe you should use this opportunity to make yourself into a better wife for this K-"

"No freakin' way!" I roared, "I'd rather marry a toad than that guy!"

My head snapped at the snickering.

"What!?" I asked Prez abruptly.

"Your face is so red right now…" he smiled, "it's cute…"

I'm pretty sure I felt my face get hotter at that comment.

"W-whatever… lemme just go hang those clothes," I turned around to leave the room.

"Actually, I want to talk to you about something," my mother interrupted. I sighed inaudibly and turned around.

"Well, I actually found this in your pants pocket, Yuki-kun…" she pulled a long thin strip of paper from nowhere. My eyes narrowed, trying to recognise the paper. Then it hit me.

It was Prez's report slip…

"It appears you remember this," she smiled dangerously, "now, pray tell… where is yours?"

I laughed nervously and shifted the basket so I couldn't see her face… who knows, maybe her wrath won't reach me from there.

"C-can't I just go do what you asked?" I said in a small voice.

"Nee-chan, you may as well give it up… if Yuki-san has his, obviously you have yours…"

I shot a dirty look at Chitose, but it wasn't necessary as my mother's attention diverted to him.

"Though before you try to push your sister under the bus, where is your report, Chitose?"

"It's getting mailed near the end of holidays…" he lied with a shrug. I rolled my eyes, "and I wasn't pushing her under the bus… I was merely telling her to not test you so early in the holidays…"

My mother laughed at his cheeky reply.

"You understand women better than your father does…" she turned back to me, but even with the amused smile, the evil glint in her eyes did not disappear, "so Chihiro, will you continue to skirt the issue and wait till I become angry, or will you listen to your brother and avoid the pain?"

I sighed, putting down the basket to the side.

"It's in my bedside drawer…" I said in defeat, plopping myself on the table some seats away from Chitose.

"You've made a smart choice…" my mother nodded approvingly before leaving the room, obviously to get the offending paper.

"You enjoy making my life difficult, huh, Chitose?" I remarked coldly.

He held up his hands defensively.

"Hey, hate on your friend… he's the one who left his marks in his pocket."

"No, you're the one who wrote Katsuragi's name on all my notes, idiot!"

The chair next to me scraped, and I jumped slightly as Prez sat next to me. I turned to him, disgruntled.

"You know, you can go do whatever you want..."

Or, ya know… just sit a single chair off…

"Sorry I didn't remove it from my pocket," he nodded slightly at me, "but at least you can get it over and done with now…"

"I'm not mad, so you know… there's just no reason for you to sit through this Armageddon."

He laughed at the phrasing.

"Sorry, but I think I want to see this… It's been a long time since I've seen any adult react to marks…" his voice falling slightly lower.

I glanced at Chitose worriedly, who motioned his hand to Prez. A 'you see if he's alright' sign if I ever saw one.

"W-when was the last time you had anyone react to your marks?" I asked tentatively.

"Maybe… since my first term in high school…" he sighed, "I know it's a weird thing to note… or actually want to see…"

"It's not that odd… the grades' apocalypse is actually pretty amusing… And it even gets more amusing when my mother figures Chitose lied about his report…" I joked, but the last line was more pointed. Prez snorted.

"So he was lying?"

"Yep…" Chitose replied confidently, his chest puffed up, "and Nee-chan is too nice to do anything about it…"

"You talk awfully big for a person who admitted his crime to two witnesses…" I pointed out.

"Nah, not worried… Yuki-san is nice as well…"

I rolled my eyes, but he had a point… I never snitched if I could avoid it, and I'm sure Prez wouldn't either.

"You're still a huge loser…" I closed off.

"I may be, but I'm a loser with a reprieve on answering for my report…"

Another laugh came from my side, stopping me from my awesome retort back. It seemed like this conversation was amusing Prez more than I expected.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"It's been a while since I've seen this scene," he laughed, "fighting with parents and siblings is great, isn't it?"

That wasn't the word I'd use, but considering how much I'd learned about Prez, that phrase didn't seem out of character. Other than his father, he's never mentioned what his family is like… though it doesn't sound like they're particularly warm and family-like.

"Hey Prez-"

The door opened, with my mother back with my report slip and a shocked look on her face. I smirked, because I knew exactly what caused that.

Oh, did I mention I did really well this term?

"Chihiro, if you stole someone's report…" she shook her hand, but my smirk went to my ear.

"Nope, that's my hard work…" I stood up and wandered behind Chitose's chair, "what do you think, Chitose-kun?"

I ruffled his hair, but he moved his head.

"Can I see that, Ka-chan?"

He opened it, revealing the seventies and eighties I'd somehow managed to score…

Then he glared at me, but that only fed my smugness.

"I believe I'm the one who got the reprieve this time…"

Prez laughed at the irony.

"Chihiro, if you were this smart, why did you wait this long?" I shrugged at my mother's question.

"Who knows? I was more motivated this time…" I felt myself smirking again as Chitose moved the paper further and closer to his face, as if he was testing whether it was real.

It was definitely real. Even though I'd had some doubts showing it to my mother, just seeing Chitose react to it was enough.

"And now that it's over and done with, I'll go put out the washing…"

I started strolling out smugly, my eyes sweeping over Chitose's gawping face. Man, that felt good!

I was about half way through hanging the clothes when I noticed Prez hanging up his basket as well.

"You seem pretty chuffed," he commented.

"I am," I laughed, "I wasn't sure what to expect when I first saw it, but Chitose's reaction was hilarious…" I snickered again as his face popped up in my mind.

"I'm glad it turned out well… it wasn't much of an Armageddon, though…" I sighed. I had mentioned that before.

"Even if it was really bad, I don't think it ever reaches Armageddon levels… I just like exaggerating is all."

"Nah, I get it… it makes it more exciting when you use words like that."

Some moments passed with us hanging clothes.

"Though in any case, I imagine your marks were better than mines, right?"

"Well… not really…" I gave him a look, and he backtracked, "okay, maybe a little bit…" his face started glowing, "but that doesn't take away from how well you did…"

Waah, that was so cute!

"Yeah, I know," I turned away, "I've never really been smart… it's actually thanks to Katsuragi I managed to get this far…"

"It is?"

"Yeah… I'm sure I mentioned Kodama's terms for us getting our clubroom… for some odd reason, Katsuragi decided to help us with English, and in the end, I asked him about all of our other subjects too…" I scratched me head, "of course, I can't pull off that guy's marks, but I think I still did pretty good."

"Then why did you hide your slip if you were happy with your marks…" I paused in the middle of pulling out one of my mother's shirt.

"As usual, you enjoy busting chops…" I said casually, clamping the shoulders carefully.

"Usually, that involves reveals other people's secrets to get them in trouble… my questions are mere curiosity…" he paused for a moment, "though you don't have to answer…"

Damn this guy! What the hell kind of unfair question is that!?

Stop being so curious! All it does is make me feel happy!

"I'll tell you… if you tell me what the deal with your family is."

"Fair enough…" he agreed.

"It's nothing that special… I just didn't want to show it to them and set a bar for myself for now…" I sighed, "I wish I knew how to use a computer well enough to forge myself a worse report."

"Well, that is ironic… most people forge better reports…" I felt his hand ruffle my hair before sitting heavily on head, "but if you're thinking your marks are because you got tutored, you're wrong… it was your hard work and the fact you understood everything in the test, and I believe you can pull that off as many times as you need."

I felt my mouth turn up slightly. Maybe it was the motion or the words, but it felt he was an older brother…

"You're pretty tall, aren't you?" I curled my hands around his wrist and shoved his arm off.

"Not really… you're just small," he laughed, and to illustrate, he folded his arms over my head. I tried to struggle out, but I stopped as soon as he started talking.

"You know, I used to do this to my little sister, Koori, too. Then she'd complain because I messed up her hair…" he pulled his arms off and smoothed my hair a little, probably as a reply to his own words.

"Koori's turning thirteen this year, but she always cared about her appearance. By seven, she used to love putting makeup on, and I was her favourite target. I'd always let her do it though…"

"Why?" I craned my neck to look at his small smile.

"She was my little sister and I'd let her do whatever…" he rolled his eyes, "that, and makeup didn't look that bad on me… I was fabulous…"

He did one of those stereotypical flamboyant hand gestures, before his hands fell to his side again. Maybe he did it to lighten the mood…

"I always wanted to support my sister… even if it meant being her doll of sorts… my parents only let it go on for a few weeks before they forbade that game."

"Forbade?" my eyes widened… that was a bit much… Prez didn't even complain about it.

However, as my eyes trailed off toward the stitches in his head, it made sense.

"Well, yeah… I was a boy, and I needed to act like it… it was around that time that my parents started pushing us to make friends with our neighbours… they were three siblings, and were around our age."

He laughed, like he was remembering something funny.

"It was pretty bumpy at first, because the two older brothers didn't like me… they considered me a weirdo because of the makeup, and the fact we never played with anyone else…" his head cocked as he smirked, "which ironically, was because we were never allowed to hang out with friends outside of school…"

I frowned sympathetically. Even without the abuse, their parenting styles were quite extreme…

Not to say I'm an extremely social, but I would not have survived this far without my friends… it makes sense that if you can't be close to friends, you'll be close to your siblings.

"In any case, that started a really happy period for me… after the misunderstandings were cleared up, I became friends with both brothers, while Koori became close to their younger sister, who was one year older than her… I guess the most bitter part was that we siblings stopped being best friends… not that we were in bad terms, but the makeup… the shoujo manga we'd read before bed… all that disappeared."

Prez ran a hand through his hair.

"The truth was, us pulling away was mostly my fault… I fell for the oldest brother, and that preoccupied me a lot… I managed to hide our relationship till high school, but it fell apart after that… I came out to my parents and it was clear they weren't happy, even if they just brushed the issue under a carpet."

He paused, but that crack in his voice was audible during that last sentence. The words were harder to get out for me as well.

"D-did they… pretend nothing happened?"

He nodded.

"Other than the strain, they didn't acknowledge or mention it in front of me… My mother passed away at the start of my second year of high school, and my father only said one thing to me at her funeral…"

His hand curled around my shoulders, but the grip was so hard I cringed.

"'You know… this was your fault…'" he whispered, and his grip slackened. He took a deep breath, but it was clear he was on the verge of tears if he wasn't crying already. I really wanted to hug him, but I could feel my blood boiling at his bastard father.

"There is no way it's your fault, obviously!" I snapped, "you know he's a shithead, right?"

Prez laughed at that, giving me a pat on the shoulder before walking back to his basket.

"Yeah, I know… but things didn't get any better between me and my sister… and with the tension between me and my father rising too, and him drinking more, it exploded, and I got hurt…"

I frowned. Was that when the abuse started?

"So yeah, since then, I took it, because I knew if he took his stress on me, he'd leave my sister alone… that's the best I could do, considering it was me who messed up our friendship in the first place…"

'But what about now?'

I squashed that question before it could move to my mouth. However, it seemed like he may have expected that question.

"I'm not worried now… Oyaji has always loved girls, and I knew he was disappointed I was a boy… he was blessed with two girls-"

"Two?"

Wasn't it only just Koori?

"Yeah… I had another little sister, Fuu… she passed away in the car accident that took my mother, too… I think that was why he lost it so hard at that point… probably, he wished it had been me in that car…"

"That doesn't make it any more acceptable! " I snapped, "if anything, his loss should have made him want to get closer to both of you siblings…"

He laughed a laugh colder than his name.

"He did get closer to me… doesn't make me want to cheer or anything, though…" he spat. That was the most sarcasm I'd heard from him… or the most cold-blooded sarcasm, at least.

And his face matched… compared to the amused, neutral or sad faces I'd seen him sport, this angry one was terrifying, and the stitches protruding out of his head just made it more scary… Was this what his face looked like when he'd been cursing at me when I had run into him outside the school?

Was I glad I got to see this face? From his story, he clearly wasn't alright… he may have been happy till he started high school, but each piece came at a price, and he only continued losing and losing…

I was happy… at least he knew the injustice… at least he had enough fight in his soul to feel mad about it.

"You are one stubborn dog" I said simply, throwing my arms around him. He unfroze after a few seconds before removing his arms and curling them around my shoulders. As much as I thought I'd freak out or do something stupid, it was fine… it was warm and comfortable.

"Thanks, Chihiro-san…" he spoke as he let go of me, "though we should finish up with this… your mother probably thinks we're the slowest people in the world…"

"My mother knows I'm the laziest person in the world…" I corrected with a laugh, "but yeah, let's hang all this up already."

So that's what we did... usually, I'd consider it a real chore, but it was nice like this... I guess I also got my answer as to why he was so adamant about keeping quiet about his father... his family couldn't really afford to be split up any further, could they?

Once we were inside, Oka-san was closing off a phone conversation, and Chitose was still half passed out on the table.

"Good timing… did you have plans today, Chihiro?"

I laughed… did my mother forget my holidays spent in front of my TV… of course, I could hardly do anything like that today.

"I'll take that as a no… In any case, I made an appointment with an optometrist around 1:30, so can you take Yuki-kun to the place?"

Oh yeah, I forgot that his glasses got broken. He took them off pretty soon after that, too…

"Though are you able to see alright?" I asked Prez, who nodded.

"My eyesight isn't that weak… the only thing I really had trouble with was reading the numbers during that game yesterday," he elaborated. Phew, so I didn't completely mess up not thinking about it, "though Oba-san, you don't have to do that. I'm surviving without glasses so far…"

"So far, yes… but seeing that you're here, there's no point of you spending your savings on something like that. Please let me buy you new glasses."

Prez got misty-eyed at that… I would have rolled my eyes but with that he'd told me, I actually felt more misty-eyed than anything.

"Thank you very much," he bowed deeply, "you've shown me nothing but kindness since I came here."

"About damn time someone did too…" my mother replied, but I could see the small smile she was trying to hide, "you're a good kid, even if you aren't mine… I know you won't be here long, but even once you're gone, you can call us if you ever need anything…"

Man, I wish my mother was always in this good a mood… but despite the usual grouchiness, I think I understood why she was so willing to help Prez. She may be my mother, but more importantly, she is _a_ mother, and she would never leave any child who she knew she could help. That made me all the more thankful that I had her in my life.

My eyes drifted to Prez's still downturned head, and wondered what his mother may have been like… was she caring and warm? Did she choose her children's name? Was there a reason why all three of them were named after cold things? She couldn't accept Prez as he was, could she?

Not that I can get the answer to most of those questions… she's not in this world anymore…

I wonder if Prez misses her… stop being stupid, Chihiro! You can't not miss your mother…

"Chihiro-san?" My head snapped up.

"Y-yeah…"

"What are our plans for today then?" I scoffed.

"Anything except Summer Homework…" Wait, why did I say that? I wasn't even thinking about Summer Homework.

My mother lifted up an eyebrow and Chitose gave me a dirty look for reminding her.

"Actually, doing your Summer Homework now wouldn't be a bad idea… Your friend is a smart guy, so he'll be able to help you both…" Chitose stood up in outrage

"But the holidays just started…" Chitose whined.

"And Prez is gonna be here tomorrow too… let's go do something fun now…"

"Let's make a deal then… whatever you plan, I'll pay for it…" Chitose looked at me, shocked at the generosity, "but you three need to spend two hours in the Library, working on your homework… if you can fulfil that requirement, with proof, I will gladly fund your day out…"

"Done!" I declared, floating toward my mother, one hand outstretched, "credit card, please…"

She gave me a weird look, half-amused and half-disgruntled at my greediness… I didn't care though… I had reign on the shiny card she'd just given me…

* * *

Within the next hour, the three of us were outside, dressed in summer garb and with dollar signs in our eyes… or maybe that last one was just me.

I can't help it… the card is so pretty! I want one when I'm an adult. Prez's hand suddenly appeared in my vision in front of the card, and I felt my breath hitch in surprise.

"Chihiro-san, I hope you remember that we are still going to the library…"

"Yeah, after someone volunteered us…" Chitose grumbled, pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

"What, Oka-san gave us free reign after that… can you seriously not work for two hours?"

"But I hate the library!" he groaned, his arms stretched out in frustration, "can't I go play soccer or something?"

"So, we told O-" Prez's hand appeared in my face again, but this time, cutting me off.

"Actually… people have their own ways of studying… your mother just wants to see that you've done some homework, so maybe we can go to the park and work…"

I was about to protest, but that actually wasn't a bad idea… it beat studying in some stuffy library where they tell you to shut up over every small thing…

Parks are kinda relaxing, anyway… God knows, I need to relax and calm down a little… and the one in this area had a jungle gym and swing set.

I expected to have to wait, but somehow, my brother pulled out a ball from nowhere, and we were off to the closest park… I settled at the foot of one of the trees, while Prez went to go play with Chitose… or more like, make sure he was actually doing some kind of work.

Yep, this was definitely relaxing… I started some math drills, as those can be therapeutic, but as soon as they got too hard and in-depth, I switched between subjects... chemistry… science… Japanese… Japanese history… English…

After some time, I noted I was doing more doodling than writing. It wasn't just random drawings, but lyrics too… some which I'd liked from other songs and some which had popped up from my own head…

Well, I don't think singing about soft serve, potato chips and chocolate actually classifies as lyrics… it's more like I'm hungry. I dumped everything into my bag and stood up.

"You guys… don't you think we should take a snack break?" Chitose, who was bouncing the ball on his head, while speaking out loud to himself, paused at the word.

"Yeah, let's…" his stomach growled loudly at the thought, "how long have we been studying here, Yuki-san?"

Prez looked around, first at his wrist then feeling at his pocketless pants… probably out of habit, I guess.

"I'd probably say an hour and a half…" Chitose's eyes widened. Mines probably did too, because my brother probably hasn't worked that long in his life… heck, even if you summed all the studying in his life, it would only be a little longer than this time here.

"You're good, Yuki-san!" he marvelled, "it feels like I actually learnt something in this time…"

Prez laughed.

"That's what happens when you study properly… too bad teachers don't get that… But yeah, let's take a half an hour break, then we'll finish the study session…"

Chitose bounded to me, eyes shining and ball twisting in between his palms.

"Nee-chan, can I buy?"

I pulled a thousand yen note from my purse, handing it to him. I didn't mind leaving that to him, because he had a pretty good idea about variety and what stuff I liked… Going to a convenience store was a pain, anyway… at least when the weather is nice and the park we stopped at had a swing set, which I made a beeline to as soon as Chitose had run off.

A few moments after I'd set off on the swing, Prez sat down on the adjacent one.

"Man, you moved fast…"

"They're only three things I move fast for… music, swings, and snacks…" he laughed.

"You missed one… you also move fast if your friends need you…"

I avoided thinking about, or answering to, that compliment.

"Oh yeah, and free stuff too…" I giggled.

"You know…" I didn't hear the rest, because I was moving too fast.

"Sorry, what was that?" I slowed down. I could heel my happy-go-lucky smile falling at the serious look on Prez's face.

"You know… you shouldn't brush off compliments like that…" I gave a weak smile.

"Isn't that the Japanese way… to turn the compliment around or reject it altogether?" he half-smiled.

"It might be, but it doesn't make it right… the whole culture is really cold and impersonal… honestly, from the first time we met, I really liked how friendly and relaxed you were, but I guess even compliments are hard for you…"

"Well, you don't take it well either," I replied, but the annoyed edge was unintentional, "you didn't respond to any ones I gave yesterday…"

He was about to retort, but something held him back. He instead took a deep breath.

"Okay, you may have a point there… if anything, what I said yesterday about holding back was a bit hypocritical, because until yesterday, you didn't know much about me, either…"

"Well, now I do…" I said with a shrug, pushing myself forward.

"While I didn't mention it yesterday, I was thinking of you as I was kicking the school gate, just before I heard your voice… I knew someone was behind me, but I was mad at myself for imagining you… I really wanted to see you at that time…"

I looked down, my head on fire again. Luckily, he didn't seem to be expecting an answer from me and his eyes were on his lap.

"I had a reason to hold back before, and I wished I didn't… that's why I don't want you to feel the same. That is why I want to hear your reason for why you prefer to hold back from everyone?"

From everyone? Maybe I want to have some walls away from Prez, for various reasons, but everyone?

"Can you elaborate?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You always put this cheerful, uncaring, unthinking, and somewhat dense front around everyone, but when you actually speak your thoughts, you're a lot more sombre and it's clear you've noted and considered the situation… why do you have that kind of filter between your brain and mouth?"

Of course he'd pick that up…

"You're giving my brain too much credit… both the thoughtless things and the thoughtful things are my real thoughts… true, I'm more likely to word out the former, but it doesn't make it filtered or untrue… they're just simpler."

I kicked off the ground.

"You see, that's what makes me a girl…"

Prez laughed. He kicked off lightly as well.

"So are all girls like that?"

"Why do you even care? It's hardly like you'll ever have to date one of those "mysterious creatures" anyway…"

"It makes me curious…" he smiled, "I want to be a psychologist, actually…"

I felt myself slow down when I didn't kick off the ground.

"So that's your dream?" I asked.

"That's one of many," he corrected as he whizzed past me, "but yeah… nothing would give me more happiness than being able to understand a person and how they think…"

That… makes a lot of sense, actually… the damn perceptiveness and how he understood things like studying habits and how he managed to convince Chitose to work when that was the last thing he wanted. My swing slowed to a stop, as did his.

"That actually suits you…" I said with a smile. Prez looked at his shirt…

"This?" he indicated to it. It was an old button-down one of my father's, and in no way did I mean that.

Though it didn't look bad on him, either… Oto-san was a lot more chubby, while Prez was thin, and slightly muscular, and with the heat, it wasn't buttoned right to the top, so his collar bone pee-

Oh God, I'm checking him out…

"Not that… the career choice you mentioned…" I looked away hastily, "I have nothing to say about that shirt…"

"Oh really… I thought this was a pretty smart shirt…" he paused, "Uh oh…"

"What happened?" I looked to see his shirt opened a little bit more, and the button in between his fingers.

"I broke the shirt…" he replied tearfully. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, it is the old shirt…" I sighed, "I can fix it for you if you want."

"Really?" he asked, opening my hand and placing the button in my palm, "I can't stitch to save my life…"

Oh really? So he isn't perfect at everything he tries?

"Heeh?" I smiled broadly, "could it be that Prez has butterfingers?"

"My hand-eye coordination isn't bad… needles are just so small…"

I laughed at his awkward, yet still weirdly grateful face, considering what a small favour that was.

"Consider it done… so that's the first… second button, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one…" he beamed.

I… I have his second shirt button… even if it was for mending purposes, I could feel myself getting flustered.

"P-prez, why don't you hold onto this till we get home?" I asked, somewhat pleadingly.

"Your shorts have pockets, right? Can't you keep them in there, because my pants don't have any…?"

He had a point… it was just a button that I'm going to be mending… and it's not even a school shirt… but because it's Prez, it's plain awkward.

"Are you certain you don't want to keep it?" I asked, my voice a tad bit higher than usual, "it's the second button, you know?"

"So…" he shrugged, "are second buttons any more difficult to fix compared to the others?"

"No…" my eyes narrowed. He really didn't get the relevance of giving that to a girl, did he?

Well, if we were clear about it, I'm sure it's alright… it's just a button I need to mend… it's just a button on a random shirt… it's a button on my father's shirt.

"Thanks for fixing it, Chihiro-chwaan!" Oto-san's kissy face came to mind.

Oh yeah, now I'm cool. Nothing is a better mood-killer than that.

"I'm back…" I jumped in my seat as Chitose appeared in front of us with a plastic bag, "who missed me?"

He glanced at my still open palm, which I hastily shut my fingers on.

"Wazzat?" Prez answered.

"My second button… I was giving it to Chihiro-san…" Chitose's eyes widened.

"To mend… it fell off Oto-san's shirt, and I'm going to attach it whenever we go home…" I said firmly, but the knowing smile on Chitose's face made me near 100 percent this wasn't the last time I'd hear it.

"Oh really? Is this the first time you've gotten a second button, Nee-chan?" he smirked, and I was certain I got pinker, "sorry, I mean _to mend_…"

"No… I repair every second button I can…" I replied haughtily, but without much effect on the person it was for… on the other hand, I seemed to have impressed Prez.

"So Chihiro-san is actually a pro at this kind of stuff?" Chitose laughed loudly.

"Nope, that girl is clumsy as anything… you shoulda seen what she di-" I casually kicked him in the stomach.

"Let's eat, shall we?" I spoke sweetly.

"Y-yeah…" my twitching brother replied before he gave up and his soul flew out. Prez just blinked at our sibling love with confusion.

* * *

It was just after noon by the time we entered Inazumart… Prez's optometrist appointment was on the second floor in half, so we were relaxing on the benches near the front, too full for Taiyaki. I'd had a safety pin in my pencil case, so the shirt looked normal, and the button sat in my back pocket, as far away from my heart as physically possible.

"Nee-chan, can we go to the game shop? It's boring here…"

I turned to my other side.

"Hmm, Prez… ya wanna come?" Prez stretched before his hands splayed on the bench.

"No thanks… I'm too full to move…"

"That so, huh?" I turned back to Chitose, "you can go… if you see a game you like, you can call me and I'll pay with Oka-san's card…"

Chitose paused, his feet firmly on the ground.

"Nee-chan, can you come with me, please?"

"What, and leave him alone here? You know where the shop is, right?" He gave me a pointed look, and then I got it.

"Oh y-yeah, you said you wanted that specific game…" I said, louder than needed, "alright, I should come then…"

Prez laughed.

"I got it… I'll wait here till you're done ta- I mean, shopping…"

Geh, stupid psychologist…

I scoffed and started pushing Chitose toward the escalator.

"So…" I stopped once we were out of earshot, "you have something to say…"

"What made you think that?" he shrugged, "I just wanted your company…"

"Then what was with _the look_?"

"What look?" he replied innocently. I scowled.

"So there wasn't any look… alright, so I guess I'll go back to Prez…" I turned around, irritated.

"Nee-chan, stop!"

"Then what is it!?" I slapped my palms against the side of my knees, "d'ya have anything to say, or not?"

On my brother's face, his face was something that I could only describe as 'Deer in the Headlights', and I only really saw that during report times.

"Chitose…" I asked. Before he could reply, my phone loudly beeped in my pocket, which I ignored.

"Nee-chan, you should check that. It might be Oka-san."

I checked it briefly, noting the name… It was Babe.

"See, it's nothing," I flipped the phone open, "It's just a friend: 'I don't know if you are friends with the Student Council President of our sch-'" My eyes widened and my mouth stopped working. I quickly scrolled back with my eyes.

'I don't know if you are friends with the Student Council President of our school, Yuki Fuyuhara, but he left for the night to stay at a friend's house, having forgotten to inform his family, and having forgotten his phone. If you know whose house he is at, please respond to this email or call XXX-XXX-XXXX.'

"Oh shit…"

* * *

**'Oh shit' indeed... though Babe actually has something to do with this arc... I wonder what?**

**In any case, I'll post the next chapter soon enough, seeing that it's already written. See ya in the next chapter, hopefully.**


	14. Maybe karaoke is the best thing

**Hi everyone... I hope you enjoy this chapter... now that April the 1st is officially over, so is my prank.**

* * *

"Oh shit!" I mumbled. Chitose appeared at my side, so I lowered my phone so he could see it.

"Oh shit sounds about right…" Chitose agreed, "so do we show Yuki-san this message?"

"No," I said firmly, my hand going to my temples, as I was starting to feel dizzy, "we don't know who sent this message, or what's the intention behind it…"

"Nee-chan, are you alright?" I nodded and took a deep breath so I could think, "I thought you said it was a friend of yours…"

"He is…" I responded, "but my information about him is limited… I don't even know his family name…"

"Do you think he may be related to Prez?" Chitose replied, worriedly.

I slid to the floor, clutching my head to try and think. Prez said he has a father and a sister… Babe is definitely a student in our school, and he is definitely male, so it was highly unlikely that he was in that immediate house.

Besides, Prez said his family definitely wouldn't tell anyone… so how would Babe know? Is he someone Prez knows?

But Prez said the last thing he wanted was to get us involved… if I told him that someone else is looking for him, that guy would be out of my house before I could protest…

I stood up, wandering to one of the bins.

"Dammit!" I kicked it hard.

Ow, not a smart idea!

Still, from the sting in my foot, it cleared my head some. I needed to find out what Prez knew about this guy, and only then I'd consider responding.

"I have an idea…" I told Chitose, "can you go to the internet café, in the meantime?"

Chitose nodded seriously.

"Yo, you're done shopping already?" Prez greeted as I appeared in front of him.

"Not exactly…" I sighed, "he forgot that title, so I left him to search for it…" I plopped down casually, "in any case, I have a message I wanted to respond to…"

That was part of my strategy… Prez could tell if I was lying or hesitating, so I was going to face this straightforwardly as I could. In any case, it helped how limited my own knowledge was.

"Say Prez… would you say you know all the students in Maijima?"

"Doubt it," he laughed, "maybe all the third years…"

"Damn," I cursed, my fist punching the air in front of my stomach, "I don't know what year or class this guy is in…"

"Well, let me hear the name… maybe I might know him."

"Well," I scratched my head, "I kinda got this guy's number from a mutual friend, and we've been chatting for maybe a month now… in any case, he was asking if we could meet up over the holidays…"

"He's in class 2-B," Prez responded, completely straight-faced.

"It's not Katsuragi…" I replied, equally straight-faced, "that person is a bit of a mystery, but I know his first name… it's Babe…"

There was definitely recognition on his face. When he noticed me scrutinising him, he turned his head back forward.

"So yeah, I was wondering if I should respond with a yes to that invitation… if you know who he is, obviously…"

"I do know him, actually…" he said softly, "he's a good guy…"

"Really?" I could feel my curiosity growing, in spite of myself, "who is he, actually?"

"Well, he's in 2-C… You know his name, obviously-"

"What's his family name?"

"Yu-you don't know what his family name is?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah… at the time, he didn't want me to know him at school, so he didn't tell me… likewise, he doesn't know me either…" my thumb-pad rubbed against the other's nail.

"You know, you should go for it," he laughed, "it'd be unfair for me to say more about him, but I can definitely say he's a good guy… I think you'll like him."

"So you trust him?"

"With my life…" Prez smiled gently, and there was my answer. I gave his a nod and stood up.

"Alright, I will… after I go buy Chitose that game first." He nodded, but I think it was clear to both of us that the second part was an afterthought.

The next hurdle was thinking of what I'd want to write… I'd decided to keep myself completely anonymous by using my first, somewhat embarrassing, email address, so whatever I said didn't link back to "Miyuki"… however, after finally remembering the password, I was at a blank on what I could say.

Chitose's head appeared over my shoulder behind me.

"PrincessMeetbun93?" he snickered, "nice name, Nee-chan…"

"Shuddup!" I retorted, "now help me come up with a response… something that tells him Prez is safe without telling him the place or my name…"

"Give me a go, then," I got up, and he started typing.

'To Babe-san

Yuki Fuyuhara is safe and well with me, so you don't need to worry. He will get in contact with you as soon as possible. That being said, please don't raise a fuss at this message, or at his sudden interest in having a sleepover. He is in good hands.

Thank you'

"Actually, change the name… not many people refer to him with that name, and I don't know his other name…"

"So… _Dear Sir_, or _To whom this may concern_?" I smiled. I didn't expect Chitose to understand that kind of formal writing.

"_To whom it may concern_… it's weird to call someone my age Sir…" I replied, nodding, "otherwise, this is fine…"

With a slightly shaking hand, I sent it to Babe's email, a fairly standard docomo address, but with no name in the address. If anything, it's fair that I used my stupid email address too.

REVENGE!

"Nee-chan, you have a stupid face on again…" Chitose sighed, getting off the chair.

"I don't wanna hear it from you… you will always have a stupid face…" he snorted.

"Whatever… let's go get some games now…" I was about to agree, when my inbox made a pinging sound.

"WHERE IS YUKI-KUN?" was the subject. Before I could even click it, the computer pinged again.

"HOW DO I KNOW THIS IS THE TRUTH? THERE'S NO NAME OR ADDRESS!"

I sighed… that was an awfully jumpy reply, considering how polite the original email was. Did he suspect some foul play and force himself to be calm before?

"EITHER GIVE SOME OTHER FORM OF CONTACT INFORMATION, OR I'LL TRACK THIS IP ADDRESS DOWN!"

I felt the hair on my neck spike up. This guy was really serious about finding Prez. Part of the reason I really wanted to answer was because I was in the same place yesterday, but this was becoming bothersome. Maybe I can tell the truth and explain the circumstances…

"Subj: Calm down please

Look, I can get your frustration, but Yuki told me to not get involved, because he doesn't want me to get in trouble. I truly am a friend of his, and I have no bad intentions.

That is why I ask for you to be patient, and for God's sake, DON'T GET THE POLICE INVOLVED! I don't know how much you know, but he's here for his own good, and with his own will. When he's ready, he'll call you.

Just trust me on this one, even if I am a stranger."

Unlike before, I didn't hesitate sending this one.

The reply came fifteen seconds later, this time without a subject.

"This doesn't make it any less frustrating, but I can't do anything about it, considering I'm stuck at home and Yuki-kun wouldn't want me to say anything.

So yes, I'll believe in you. Please do whatever you can for him, and don't let him come home."

This guy… this can't be Prez's boyfriend, could it? Coz there was something really sweet and tender about how that last line is phrased… but if he's in second year, that can't be right… that guy was out of high school now.

Wait, though Prez shouldn't come home… so he does know their family situation… who the hell is this guy?

"Nee-chan…" Chitose hissed, and I quickly shut off the browser.

"Chihiro-san," Prez approached us, "I think we should go to the Optometrist now…" I glanced at the computer's clock, and he was right.

"Alright, lemme log off here…" Both Chitose and Prez walked out, so I pulled out the 200 yen I owed for this session and followed after them, my stomach weirdly fluttery.

Man, now I wish I actually could meet Babe… he truly seems like a nice guy…

With the crisis averted, I was sitting in the waiting room, earphones in and music on… Chitose had his knees on the chair and was staring raptly at the game store, which in that time, we unfortunately didn't get to visit…

Well, unfortunate for him… While Katsuragi was a thought that just sat at the back of my mind, I really didn't want to set up myself into mistakenly running into him.

Yeah, though that wouldn't happen… he probably brought his entire holiday's worth of games yesterday and hasn't left his room since…

I wonder how his holidays have been so far… probably less interesting than mines…

Yeah… he can't top mines… I'm hoarding a classmate in my house…

"Nee-chan…" Chitose tugged at my sleeve, and I pulled out an earpiece, "look, Otoshi-nii-san is here today too."

"Where?" I flipped my body around on the chair. At the tip of his finger, Katsuragi was walking toward the down escalator, one of his super happy smiles that he only has for his games gracing his face. While it was a little creepy, I was happy I got to see it so soon.

Though I wonder what happened to his head… It's in bandages.

For a second, he stopped, his head facing exactly where me and Chitose were. I quickly ducked.

"He isn't looking at us," Chitose whispered, "stop acting weird…"

"Says the one who's unabashedly staring at some guy…" I said irritably, but my head peeking out of the window.

Katsuragi was still frozen, but suddenly, his eyes shone and his mouth started moving fast, alongside his legs.

While it wasn't loud, I could almost hear it… moneymoneymoneymoneymoney… he must've been going to the ATM on the first floor before he went to buy something.

"Nee, let's go get a game too, Nee-chan…" Chitose whispered, "Maybe he's going to come back, so you'll get to bump into him."

"Rejected," I crossed my arms, "it'll be weird running into him there. If you want, you can go…"

"Cool… so when he comes back, I'll tell him you like hi-" I nearly shoved him off the circular couches we were on. The receptionist totally gave us a dirty look at that. What's her problem? We're not even being that loud…

"I'm going, I'm going…" a disgruntled Chitose mumbled.

"Not a word…"

"Yeah, yeah…" he sighed. From the window, I watched Chitose's back heading past the coffee joint… past the clothes outlet.

Oh, Ellie's at the games shop. Well, she just ran out, hand on her hair clip and eyes frantic.

Man, I missed her confused face… she hadn't been at school since Wednesday, so I didn't even get to say goodbye for the holidays…

Before I could move, Katsuragi appeared from the escalator, money on hand. His stupidly happy smile dropping as soon as he caught eyes with some non-descript girl who had two shop mugs in her hand, and she turned away. Before I could pick up what happened after that, Katsuragi was screaming, both him and his money covered in coffee.

Poor Katsuragi… poor money… I cringed at how painful and sad the whole situation was.

Ok, there was no way that wasn't on purpose… she was facing away from him… what could he have done to piss her off to the point where spilling burning hot coffee was actually an acceptable punishment?

Still, despite me wanting to look away, my eyes were stuck on the ensuing scene… Katsuragi approaching… her walking toward the railing… her flatly retorting to his rightful outrage… her sitting on the bannister… her falling over the other side.

"The hell!?" I stood up. I did see that right, because both Katsuragi and Ellie rushed to the bannister, eyes wide and mouths open. What the hell happened?

"Yo, Chihiro-san?" I turned around, where Prez had exited the doctor's office, a new pair of oval glasses sitting on his nose, "you look like you saw a ghost…"

"S-someone fell off the balcony…" I replied, turning around, "see, over there…"

The area was completely clear and both Katsuragi and his sister had disappeared.

"Are you sure… there would have been a lot more of a fuss if something like that happened?"

In the end, no one saw anything… Chitose, who entered the waiting room after a few minutes, also saw nothing, and the two witnesses were nowhere to be seen. So I gave up and brought some chocolate Taiyaki for the road…

"So…" I swallowed the mouthful of chocolatey goodness, "are we gonna do anything, or are we calling it a day?"

"That one is up to you," Prez replied, biting the head of his red bean pastry, "Man though… it's been a while since I've gotten to hang out with friends."

So you wanna stay out longer, after all…

Rustling disturbed the sound of us munching. That was Chitose opening his plastic bag that he must've gotten from the game store. I didn't even notice it before.

"I thought you were gonna call me so I could use Oka-san's card…" I questioned. Chitose frowned.

"You wouldn't have come out, anyway… besides, this was such a rare piece I wasn't gonna risk running out so someone else could buy it…"

"There are rare games?" I wondered out loud. Chitose smirked, using his left hand to mess with the box inside.

"You're so naïve, Nee-chan. However, fear not, because I will enlighten you…" with his right hand, he pulled off the packet, like he was doing an unveiling of some sort, "behold! The power of the First Edition…"

"So bright!" I gasped, shielding my eyes from the non-existent light, before my face fell into a poker face, "seriously, it's just another game… what's so good about that?"

Chitose put his right hand, still with the bag, on my shoulder, his face comically serious.

"Poor Nee-chan… are you not aware of the bonus items which come through with getting the first edition?"

"I do like freebies…" I nodded. He shook his head solemnly.

"Dear Nee-chan…. It is not about the freebies… As Otoshi-nii-san puts it, the First Edition of any game is_ The Truth_…" I blinked at the profound look at Chitose's face.

"Huh?"

"_The Truth_… as soon as a game is on the market, reports of bugs and crashes reach the company, as well as notifications of other mistakes and misgivings the audience has… edits are made, and the games are being influenced by the audience, thus decreasing the credibility of the creators…"

"Umm… I don't think that's the word…"

"In any case," he ignored that, holding up his precious first edition in the air, "the First Edition is the purest form of the game that the creators made with their blood, sweat, and tears… even if it may be imperfect, it is the most beautiful thing in the world…"

Chitose held the game to his heart, his eyes filled with tears, before his eyes snapped to mines.

"You got it?" I nodded quickly, and a smirk came on his face, "of course, if you don't..."

He shut his hand around the bag, and the horrible scrunching sound of the plastic went right into my ear. I jumped and smacked his arm away. Chitose had his hands on his knees from laughing so hard.

Even Prez, who was on my other side, was laughing at me clutching my poor abused ear.

"You guys are really interesting," Prez replied at my glare, "and Chitose-kun speaks the truth…" my brother gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks… I learnt that from Otoshi-nii-san."

"You did mention him before… who is he exactly?"

"He's a renowned gamer, Otoshigami-sama, who runs a website of walkthroughs and game philosophies… he's also the guy Nee-san likes."

I'd complain, but it isn't like Prez doesn't know already… if anything, it'll make my revenge all the more sweeter when I do implement it. I took a bite from my taiyaki.

"Oh, so he's the fallen God…" Prez laughed, "though why Nii-san?"

"Coz he's gonna marry Nee-chan in the future…"

I choked, and by the sound of it, Prez wasn't doing that hot either.

"You know you can't make that decision, Chitose-kun… it's something both of them would decide far in the future…"

"I'd say no…" I replied grumpily, "nothing's even happened…"

"As Chihiro-san says, it's too early to say anything…" I shook my head, annoyed.

"It's got nothing to do with time… I'm not going to ask him out, end of story…" both of them gave me a really shocked look.

"Geez, why does it even matter to ya'll… it's my decision, you know…"

"But… but…" Chitose blubbered, "what about the games?"

"How about you buy them instead of leeching on other people?' I retorted back.

I think by that point, both Prez and Chitose could tell I was getting annoyed, so the topic changed to what we'd be doing in the afternoon.

"All in favour of karaoke?" I raised up a hand. At the park, we were sitting around a circular stone table that was in the shade.

"Aye!" the two of them replied. Prez then laughed.

"Since when have you been such a leader?" he asked.

"Hey, I'm a club president… leadership is in my blood…" I smiled smugly, "any other questions?"

"Here…" I called on Chitose, "who voted you as club president?"

I ignored the snarky tone behind it.

"Maijima's light music club was my idea and I was voted in by their members… NEXT!"

I took Prez's hand next.

"What do we exactly do during karaoke?" Chitose's eyes bugged out.

"Well, you get to sit inside a room with your friends, order food, and cue up songs on the machine… when they come up, the person has to sing, while the others snack or clap along… I'm sure you'll enjoy it…"

"Yeah, Yuki-san… it's really fun… though I think three people may be too little…"

Hmm… Chitose does kind of have a point, though… it's more fun with a larger party.

"Chihiro-san, why don't you invite Takahara-san and Terada-san… we did have fun when they were over yesterday…"

"Ooh, I should see if I can get Ellie to come too…"

"Waah, it's been a while…" I exclaimed as I entered my favourite room at our usual karaoke place. I quickly dove into the seat closest to the mic, revelling in its unchanging comfortableness.

"It has, hey?" Ayumi said, only slightly less excited than me. She came in next to me.

"Couldn't I have invited friends too?" Chitose whined, "now there's only girls here."

"Hey, just be glad Ellie was too busy to come…" I woulda flicked him if he wasn't so far, "Oka-san was nice enough to loan her card, so we shouldn't go overboard… why don't you take it as an opportunity to show off?"

Chitose snorted.

"To who!? Ayumi may as well be my sister… and your other friend…" he looked from the side of his eye, creeped at Miyako's face, "I don't want to show off to her…"

Honestly, I was a little weirded out myself… maybe it's the fact that Miyako is an only child, but she was soothed by Chitose's presence… to the point of creepiness, actually.

"Nee, Chitose-kun…" Miyako crooned from next to my brother, "do you know what song you wanna sing?"

She was about to pull the music catalogue, when I smacked my hand on the edge.

"Hey, I want to sing first!" I spoke, but I wasn't alone. Ayumi's hand was on the other corner. I glared at her.

"I'm the band vocalist… I have to practice…"

"At least you get to practice… give the rest of us a shot here…"

"Yeah, let your brother sing, Chihiro… I wanna hear that!" Chitose shook his head so fast he was blurring, which Miyako misinterpreted, "it's okay if you don't get how to use the machine… I can put on any song you like…"

I glared at the two girls, before sighing… this was stupid… that last line was particularly eyeroll-worthy.

"Look, how about we let Prez sing?" I suggested. When everyone turned to look at Prez, he turned a delicate shade of pink. I felt myself smile at that.

"I-I've never used that machine before…"

"You wanted someone to baby," I indicated my hand to Prez, "there ya go…"

Miyako laughed, but opened the music catalogue to explain it.

"Actually, what do you guys wanna drink?" Ayumi interrupted.

"Orange juice!"

"Oorlong Tea for me…"

"Ooh, gimme a chocolate milkshake."

Prez looked at all of us, surprised at the speed we replied.

"It's alright if you haven't decided yet… we can just order your drink later," Ayumi said kindly.

"N-no… I just don't know what kind of drinks they serve here…"

"Anything you can think of…" I replied.

"Yeah, basically… they have a wider spread than family restaurants even…" Prez's eyes bugged out at Ayumi's answer.

"Don't they have a menu around here?" Miyako asked, looking around. I shrugged.

"Maijima has so few newcomers it's rare anyone asks… most likely, they have at the front desk."

"Oh… in that case, can I get a coffee, please?" Ayumi gave him a two fingered solute.

"Consider it done, Prez…" she leaned over her chair to the phone. Looking around, I noticed a few instruments sitting on a table in the corner… nothing really high tech, but enough that it made a noise.

"Anyone want a tambourine… maracas?"

Everyone shook their head, but I decided to get them anyway… Eh, I liked them.

"Though Prez, is this the first time you've gone to karaoke?" Miyako asked, after explaining the whole song selecting process.

"Y-yeah…" he scratched his head, embarrassed, "is that bad?"

Better question… is it bad that I think he looks cute like that?

"Oh no, it isn't… I was just curious…" she smiled, "in any case, your song is ready… the words will be on the screen."

He gulped and walked to the centre, so I clapped him on with my tambourine. The nod he gave was somewhat more relaxed.

I didn't recognise the song he sang, but he sounded damn good… nervous, but damn good. Even Miyako jokingly invited him to be the 2B Pencil's vocalist. Usually, I'd be annoyed, but when he sounded like that…

Though following that, me and Ayumi were arguing about songs when Chitose hit me with a maraca… not because I was being annoying, but to listen to Miyako.

"Though how did you hurt your head?" she asked him. His fingers brushed the stitched up section absently. I glanced at Ayumi, who was looking at it as well.

"Actually, I klutzed out yesterday and smashed my head on the stairs, which broke my glasses as well…" the two girls cringed sympathetically, a motion Prez noticed, "don't worry, it isn't sore… and it was actually thanks to that I met Chihiro-san at Inazumart…"

"Oh yeah, the optometrist is on the second floor, right? Did you run into each other around there?"

"Yeah..." Chitose's voice synched with mines.

"Nee-chan was looking at clothes…"

"I was getting coffee…"

Damn, that didn't synch. Miyako's face changed and for a second.

"Yeah, Chitose wanted to look at some games, so I told him I was going to look at clothes…" I shrugged, "I got bored and went to get some coffee instead…"

"Even still, I'm glad," Ayumi laughed, "yesterday, I was thinking that'd be the last time we'd meet again… at least we got to hang out once more…"

Then the drinks came in and I could relax. Miyako didn't ask any pressing questions, but the longer it went on, the more restless I felt… she didn't even talk about that conversation we had yesterday. Surely, she didn't forget…

The rest of karaoke went as well as I could hope… Prez was impressed at the variety of foods they had there, and Ayumi and Chitose both bood me off the stage for laughs. I tripped Ayumi for that one, but the Karma points towards Chitose are just piling up… I really hope I can come up with a good revenge prank.

After I paid the relatively large bill with my mother's credit card (I'll apologise for that one…), Prez was the first to leave, after thanking everyone and giving me an extra pat on the head.

"I'm shipping out on Monday, but if you guys decide to meet again tomorrow, give me a call… I had a lot of fun today."

He gave me a curt nod, as if we weren't going to meet up two streets away.

"Bye, girls… Chitose-kun…"

"Bye Prez!" The four of us waved, but Chitose's use of his first name was audible between us.

"Thanks for treating us, Chihiro…" Ayumi said happily, "yesterday, I was feeling pretty sucky that holidays were coming up, but at least we'll get to hang out then too..."

"You know you can call whenever you want… except for weekends, coz I'll be tired then… though I'll be busy on weekdays, so maybe that's a bad time too…" I joked, but Ayumi shrugged, waving me off.

"Puh-lease… as if you have plans… though that joke was funnier that Chitose's pun from earlier…"

"Hey!" Chitose protested, "I can tell a funny joke…"

"I don't know what's wrong with you guys. I thought that was pretty funny," Miyako smiled broadly. Most likely, she was trying to suck up and get in his good books… it was working though.

"See, she gets it…"

"Oh, we got it alright… it was just a sucky joke…" Ayumi replied, irritating Chitose further. He charged like a bull, but she held him off easily coz he's still pretty short.

"Nee, Chihiro…" I looked up, where Miyako was next to me with her phone out, "can you send me Prez's number?"

I was about to, till I remembered that it was sitting at home with his bastard of a father.

"Yeah, sorry… Prez mentioned he lost it some time ago…"

"Eeh, but he had it just yesterday!" I laughed, shrugging.

"I guess Prez is more of a klutz than we thought…"

"Incoming! INCOMING!" Without skipping a beat, both me and Miyako opened our legs to brace ourselves and held up an arm toward where the voice was coming from, and Ayumi collided into it, effectively stopping her. Yeah, that was a new trick we learnt.

"Thanks…" I turned to face her.

"There are innocent people here… you shouldn't go running like that…"

"I couldn't help it… Chitose started chasing me, and he's also fast…" I rolled my eyes… two easily excitable athletes in the same place was not a good idea. Miyako continued from before.

"In any case, once you get his new phone, send me his number… I don't want to lose touch with him."

From the corner of my eyes, an exhausted Chitose came by, muttering under his breath.

"Who, Prez?" Ayumi joined in, barely breathing fast, "though was it just me, or when he's floundering around, he's actually cuter than usual…"

"Nope, not just you…" I agreed. Even Miyako, who never cares about guys, nodded approvingly.

"There's something else though… like he was more open and friendly today… he seemed in a better mood…" Ayumi nodded as well.

"Yeah… I wonder if something good happened to him."

I had a perfect poker face when Ayumi and Miyako turned to me, weirdly large smiles on their face.

"Did something happen between you guys?" Ayumi asked.

"Yeah, you've been a bit giddy today as well…" I waved them off, as if they were being stupid.

"As if… he doesn't roll that way, remember…" Ayumi scratched her head.

"Though he kept glancing at you…"

"Really?" That was news to me… I didn't let the shock stay on my face, rather replacing it with a smirk, "maybe he realised how reliable I was…"

Miyako and Ayumi looked at each other before laughing their heads off. Chitose stepped next to me, petting my arm

"I think you're reliable, Nee-chan…" he hid a laugh, "unfortunately, not reliable enough that a guy would notice you for that," then the first peal of laughter started him off.

"Hey, you lost a race to a girl!" he hushed up.

"I chased her around the block… how fast does she even run, because that speed wasn't even human?"

Sometimes, I have that exact feeling too…

"If you buffoons are done there, me and Chitose are gonna leave too!"

Ayumi stopped, gave me a wave, stared at me for a moment, and then fell back into that uncontrollable laughter. By this point, I was more offended at how unreliable she actually thought I was.

"See you around, Chihiro…" Miyako replied, now just smiling, "and to clarify, I am not a buffoon…"

"Yeah…" I looked pitifully at Ayumi, who was bent in half with laughter, "this one may be…"

So me and Chitose left. He was deep in thought about something, so I took that time to think too. Today, it's just been thing after thing, so I hadn't even thought about the more pressing issue that was Babe… he seemed to understand, and I did manage to keep my name completely off the table… just, I wonder if I made a mistake having Prez hang out with Ayumi and Miyako… I don't even know how many people got that message, but what if they got it? Or what if they innocently mentioned this karaoke session to someone who had gotten it… this was actually a really risky move…

Dammit, why am I even worried about how this will affect me? Prez is disappearing to God knows where after tomorrow. It's all good that we enjoyed today, but there are a lot more to think about and do…

In the meantime, I shouldn't let Oka-san or Oto-san hear about that message… or Prez, for that matter.

"By the way," I nudged Chitose so he was paying attention, "don't tell anyone about that email… we'll tell Prez about it on Monday when he's leaving," Chitose nodded.

"Yeah, for both our sake and his, it's for the best… though do you think we'll hear from your friend again?"

I paused for a second to think about it.

"Nah… I think we've explained it well enough that he'll just wait patiently…" I sighed before continuing, "it's gonna get dark soon, so we should hurry…"

Chitose stopped.

"How is that hurrying?"

"Nee-chan, is there really nothing happening between you and Yuki-san?"

"Huh?" I stopped too, "yeah, I told you before…"

"Then let me rephrase it… do you feel something for him?"

As I stopped, I noted the emotions running through my brain… shock… embarrassment… panic… anger… the last one was the thing that stayed there.

"Why would I tell you?" my voice was ice cold.

"Look, I'm not asking to embarrass you or as blackmail material…" I laughed humourlessly at the last point.

"Oh really… because when you met Katsuragi, I pitched in for that game so you wouldn't tell Nee-san about it… that didn't stop you. You were the one who wrote on my notes too, which was how Oka-san found out as well…"

"Nee-chan, that wasn't the intent-"

"No… yesterday, you and Keita were making snide remarks all evening... If that wasn't your intention, why didn't you keep your mouth shut!?"

Those harsh words worked, because even though Chitose was trying to speak, his eyes kept frantically blinking. I seem to have hit something harder than I intended.

"L-look, I don't expect an answer… just, have you decided on anything?"

"I'm not going to rock the boat…" I said firmly.

"Not about that, Nee-chan… about my question… the longer you waver on that question, the harder it'll be for you."

"That much I know…" I snapped, "at this time, he needs a friend more than anything, and that's what I'm gonna be…"

"So you're not going to think about it?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not going to leave him alone..."

"Okay then…" he replied stubbornly, before stomping forward. I followed him closely around the corner.

"Oy, Yuki-san…" Chitose grabbed Prez's hand and dragged him into motion, "let's go home… Nee-chan has to make a detour somewhere."

"No I'm not!" I shouted, falling into step with them.

"You were worried about leaving him alone, and he won't be… I'll stay by and walk him home and hang out with him."

"It isn't an issue! I don't need to make any detour…"

"Look, what's going on with you two!?" Prez asked over us, slowing back into a stop.

"Nothing!" I replied shortly.

"Yuki-san, can you tell her that she doesn't need to be around you 24/7?"

"Yeah, if you need to do something, it isn't an issue…" he turned back to Chitose, "does this have to do with me spending the night in her room yesterday?"

Chitose's eyes widened.

"Not like that! He had night terrors, and I wasn't going to kick him back to his room…" They narrowed again, but not at me.

"Are you really that dense!?" he shouted at Prez.

"Hey, have some respect!" I screamed back at him, "he's older than you…"

"No, Nee-chan… until he stops giving all those mixed messages, you shouldn't hang out alone with him…"

"Mixed signals?"

"I can do whatever the damn hell I want!" I screamed, my panic levels through the roof.

"Then so can I!" he retorted, and I could feel a rush of blood go to my head, drowning the sound of his next words. My other senses went into overdrive.

The cool late afternoon wind on my arms and legs… the smell of the heated tar and concrete under me… my mouth filling with saliva that I had no hope of swallowing… my ears pulsating with my heart.

Chitose's mouth forming words I couldn't read…

Prez's mouth falling into a small circle…

Behind those new shining oval glasses, I did not recognise the look in his eyes.

* * *

**Well, God knows how many people actually read this for the four hours this was up, but Happy 1st of April... or 2nd now, according to my computer.**

**Though if you did read it, this story will continue as usual... true, I actually haven't written the next part, but I think I'll work on DMT in the meantime. I will see ya'll when I do.**


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